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State Energy Offices can convene or engage in working groups and planning initiatives across a wide spectrum of energy topics to further the exploration of advanced electric grid optimization solutions. As evidenced by the examples below, this work can take various forms, depending on each state’s unique circumstances. However, despite the diversity of approaches, each can result in advancing discussions on the consideration of advanced electric grid optimization solutions.

Convening or Engagement in Working Groups

The examples included below showcase public engagement facilitated by state entities as well as forums for states to collaborate and learn from each other.

• The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (the State Energy Office) co-chaired the Clean Energy Transmission Working Group (CETWG), composed of both public and private industry representatives and established to assess and report to the legislature on any necessary transmission infrastructure upgrades that may be required to support the deployment of new generation sources. This working group analyzed the impacts of advanced transmission technologies and recommended mechanisms for implementation. In its final report to the Massachusetts Legislature, issued in December of 2023, the CETWG included a detailed assessment of what it called “advanced transmission technologies” and recommendations to pursue them.
• The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), which works closely with the Department of Energy Resources, hosted two public, virtual forums focused on integrating advanced grid optimization solutions throughout both the state and greater New England.
• In April 2025, the Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission, created in 2023 and focused on coordinating interregional planning and transmission development, issued the Strategic Action Plan on Interregional Transmission. With a focus on near-term and mid-term action items, the plan provides steps pertinent policymakers can take to increase reliability and reduce ratepayer impacts across three different grid planning regions in the Northeast. A near-term action item listed in the strategic action plan is the issuance of a Request for Information for potential interregional transmission projects. Through this action item, the states desire to prioritize advanced electric optimization grid solutions to maximize use of the existing grid and reduce consumer costs. The following nine State Energy Offices collaborated to develop the strategic action plan: Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; Delaware Division of Climate, Coastal, and Energy, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control; Maine Governor’s Energy Office; Maryland Energy Administration; Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; New Jersey Board of Public Utilities; New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources; and Vermont Public Service Department.
• A total of 21 states participated in the Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative, an effort to bring states, the federal government, and private industry together to focus on how to accelerate the utilization of advanced electric grid optimization solutions. Through their engagement in this initiative, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin committed to exploring opportunities to incorporate advanced grid solutions to increase capacity and maximize the performance of their existing grid infrastructure. States are interested in more cost-effectively meeting growing electricity demands on the grid and maximizing utilization of existing infrastructure through consideration of advanced electric grid optimization solutions.

Incorporation into State Energy Planning

State energy planning initiatives offer the option to incorporate the consideration of advanced electric grid optimization solutions.

• Most State Energy Offices develop comprehensive state energy plans to establish a strategy or framework to consider how to meet current and future energy needs in a cost-effective manner, enhance energy system reliability, expand economic opportunity, and address environmental quality. The start of a new energy planning cycle presents an opportunity for consideration of advanced electric grid optimization technologies, as states evaluate their energy needs as well as generation and transmission options.

• State Energy Offices develop state energy security and resilience plans with the purpose of ensuring the reliability and security of energy infrastructure in their states. Several State Energy Offices, such as Idaho, Montana, and Virginia, include reconductoring among proposed wildfire mitigation measures in their respective State Energy Security Plans, adopting the risk mitigation guidance as proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response.
• In its legislatively directed Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR), the California Energy Commission (the State Energy Office) includes an assessment of the energy landscape along with forecasts with the goal of informing the state’s energy policies. While this planning document is wide-reaching and addresses the broad spectrum of energy issues in the state, it does include a section focused on ensuring the expansion of the state’s transmission capacity. Included in the 2023 IEPR is a recommendation to evaluate the viability of advanced electric grid optimization solutions.