Individual Offshore Wind Power Production

ISO New England operates the power grid for six states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It manages the region's wholesale electricity market and directs power flow from its headquarters in Holyoke, Massachusetts, aka the Grid Operator. 

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ISO-NE does not hide offshore wind data broadly, but it must adhere to strict information confidentiality "rules" approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

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FERC created ISO-NE in 1997, and ISO-NE began managing the restructured regional wholesale power markets in May 1999.

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The Rules: Under ISO-NE market rules, the real-time power generation data of an "individual" power plant is considered proprietary business information.

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To protect commercial competitiveness, ISO-NE only publishes real-time fuel-mix data in aggregated categories (e.g., total "Wind" or "Solar"). Because the region currently has very few operational commercial offshore wind farms, publishing distinct "offshore wind" real-time metrics would expose individual company operations. Consequently, offshore wind data is bundled under a single, region-wide "Wind" reporting category. 

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The public is uncertain about how much power each offshore wind project is providing to the regional power grid. ISO New England officials have in the past declined to provide or publish a breakdown of how much power has been supplied by individual projects. The power grid’s 2024 data show that, as a whole, "wind energy" provided just 3 percent of electricity in the region.

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No law prevents ISO New England from producing specific offshore wind data. ISO NE restricts this information under its own internal information policy, which classifies specific generator data, commercial bids, and operational metrics as confidential trade secrets to protect market competition. 

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Offshore wind received tax incentives and regulatory frameworks through state and federal programs. Offshore wind projects would not have been built at scale without the heavy financial backing of taxpayers and electric ratepayers. 

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The offshore wind industry relies on a combination of taxpayer-funded incentives and ratepayer guarantees to make projects bankable. 

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This leaves the question of whether ISO-NE is using market 'rules" that favor offshore wind plants.  What if an individual project was becoming financially unviable or a failing political agenda?

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The public should have a legal and democratic right to know how much power an individual offshore wind project generates. Transparency must be maintained because these multi-billion-dollar energy projects occupy public waters, rely on federal or state permitting, impact consumer electric grids, and are frequently backed by taxpayer-funded subsidies or public utility contracts. 

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Note # Land-based (onshore) wind energy in Massachusetts and Rhode Island has effectively stalled.