Power Up New England receives $389 million

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – ‘Power Up New England’ will receive $389 million for its wind power infrastructure project.

Part of the money will be spent on building substations around the coast and powerlines that can handle the surge in electricity.

The grid expansion is part of the Department of Energy’s $10.5 billion grid resilience and innovation partnerships program. A rep with the Sierra Club explains how wind energy adoption here could impact the rest of the country.

“That’s another reason why this funding is super exciting and hopefully, if we can make it work here, if we can show that this will not make people’s bills more expensive, this becomes something that’s done all over the East, and West Coast in the US,” says Vick Mohenka.

Multi-day battery storage will also be improved as a result of this funding. The goal is to produce 4,800 megawatts of offshore wind energy when the project is complete.

Latest Local News Headlines

History made at HERO Act signing ceremony

Registration is still open for charitable golf tournament honoring Jeffrey Speller

Baystate Medical Center hosts free community health fairs

Baystate Wing helipad to close for maintenance, alternate landing site announced

WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP.