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New England governors, Eastern Canadian premiers highlight offshore wind and federal PowerUp funding to bolster regional grid
Summary
At the 45th New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers Conference, leaders celebrated selection of three offshore wind projects adding about 2,900 MW and cited a nearly $400 million federal PowerUp award for transmission and battery investments to deliver up to 4,800 MW of additional offshore wind capacity.
Governors and premiers opened the 45th New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers Conference at Boston University by centering the region’s transition to offshore wind and the transmission upgrades needed to carry that power.
“Last week, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, we went in big in selecting three new offshore wind projects,” Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said, adding the awards will add about 2,900 megawatts of new offshore wind capacity. Healey said the projects are “enough to run 1,600,000 homes or businesses” and amount to roughly 20% of Massachusetts’ current power needs.
Healey credited a federal PowerUp selection that will direct almost $400,000,000 to New England for transmission work and supporting infrastructure. “This is going to build new transmission equipment to deliver 4,800 megawatts of additional offshore wind,” she said, and noted that the funding will also back battery energy storage projects in northern Maine intended to dispatch carbon-free electricity over multiple days.
The session emphasized the limits of clean-energy gains without grid upgrades. “More clean power puts more pressure on our already strained electric grid,” Healey said, calling for coordinated regional planning and investment. Leaders framed the PowerUp award as the kind of federal–regional partnership needed to move large-scale offshore wind into operation.
Premier Andrew Furey of Newfoundland and Labrador urged cross-border cooperation on shared infrastructure and policy alignment. “If we collaborate, we will succeed and chart a course for other regions,” Furey said, pointing to hydrogen and other renewables as complementary pathways.
The governors and premiers said the projects will require continued intergovernmental work on permitting, transmission siting and workforce training. Healey also highlighted related state actions, including appointments and budget priorities aimed at accelerating climate work.
The opening remarks closed with a call to sustain partnerships among states, provinces and private investors to convert project awards into actual construction and reliable electricity supply. The conference then moved into closed roundtables to discuss implementation details and next steps.
