About the Ready Path

Greater Boston’s Energy Reliability Need

As New England moves toward a cleaner energy future with the introduction and expansion of resources like offshore wind, solar, battery storage and electric vehicles, Eversource and National Grid, your local utility providers, have been enhancing the backbone transmission grid to ensure the delivery of cost-effective, reliable power.

In anticipation of the retirement of Exelon’s fossil fuel-fired Mystic Generating Station in Everett, MA, by June 2024, New England’s power grid manager, ISO-NE, issued a request for competitive transmission solutions to maintain electric grid reliability and power restoration capabilities in the Greater Boston Area. These reliability improvements are needed to address overloads on multiple transmission lines and system instability issues, so that power going to Boston-area customers from the north, west and south can move more efficiently.

Extensive Transmission Experience;
Innovative Solution

As New England’s primary transmission operators, National Grid and Eversource are deeply familiar with the electric grid and are experts on how to effectively optimize the system to address the region’s reliability needs. Working together, the two utilities have provided ISO-NE with a cost-effective option to solve the identified reliability needs, provide certainty, and offer the best value for customers, with minimal community and environmental impact.

The Ready Path will be constructed at existing National Grid and Eversource substations, and can be built before the Mystic Generating Station retires.

Working together, the two utilities have provided ISO-NE with a cost-effective option to solve the identified reliability needs, provide certainty, and offer the best value for customers, with minimal community and environmental impact.
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Key Benefits Of The Ready Path Solution

  • Significant customer savings. With an installed cost of $49 million, Ready Path costs well below the estimated $175 million that New England consumers are currently paying each year to keep Mystic Generating Station available.
  • Maximizes the use of existing transmission facilities in the Boston area.
  • Keeps upgrades entirely on properties already in use by the two companies, minimizing community and environmental impacts.
  • Will be in-service several months prior to the planned Mystic Generating Station retirement.
  • Reflects firm and budgetary pricing from advanced design and engineering, competitive bidding from experienced contractors and suppliers and is backed by cost containment. 
  • Capitalizes on the strong financial capabilities and unparalleled expertise of two companies that develop and construct transmission projects throughout New England.

STRATEGIC PARTNERS