Eversource Completes Portion of Ready Path Solution on Budget and Ahead of Schedule

Ready Path Solution will be in service to meet regional reliability needs and deliver full benefits to customers ahead of Mystic Generating Station retirement in 2024

BOSTON, Mass. (Jan. 20, 2022) - As part of an innovative collaboration with National Grid to improve the reliability of the region's electric system, Eversource today announced the completion of its portion of the Ready Path Solution on budget and ahead of schedule. Eversource's project work consisted of installing new equipment at its existing North Cambridge substation to direct power flows more efficiently, and its completion represents a significant milestone with the full project expected to be complete by October 2023.
National Grid's portion of the project is underway, including the installation of new equipment at its Tewksbury, Amesbury, and Haverhill substations, and is anticipated to be completed in 2023.

The Ready Path Solution is the first competitively awarded reliability project chosen by ISO New England (ISO-NE), the region's independent power grid manager. With an installed cost of $49 million, it was selected as the most cost-effective solution to maintain grid reliability following the retirement of the Mystic Generating Station, a 2,000-megawatt fossil fuel-fired power plant, which is scheduled to retire in 2024 and costs New England customers an estimated $175 million annually to keep the station available for power generation. According to ISO-NE, without upgrades to the region's electric grid, the closure of the Mystic Generating Station would create significant reliability risks for customers in the Boston area, including overloaded transmission lines and system instability.
Both Eversource and National Grid are focused on minimizing environmental and community impacts, and with many of the upgrades being completed at existing substations, the Ready Path Solution helps accomplish that goal while offering a strong degree of schedule certainty and delivering the earliest in-service date to customers.

"New England's electric grid must continue to evolve in order to cost effectively maintain system reliability while ensuring customers have access to new sources of clean, renewable energy," said Eversource President of Transmission and Offshore Wind Projects Bill Quinlan. "The Ready Path Solution is pivotal to providing the advanced reliability our people and economy need to thrive, and it will also provide significant financial and environmental benefits to customers while helping the commonwealth achieve its leading carbon-reduction goals. I am proud of our team's efforts to bring the Eversource portion of this innovative project online a year and a half ahead of schedule, as well as on budget, and look forward to continued collaboration with our partners across the region to achieve our shared clean energy goals."
"The Ready Path project will cost-effectively meet the region's reliability needs and allow the timely closure of the Mystic station," said Stephen Woerner, President of National Grid New England. "National Grid and Eversource have partnered to provide the best solution for the region. National Grid is making steady progress on its portion of the project and is on track to be completed next year."

For more information on the Ready Path Solution, visit www.greaterbostonreadypath.com.

About Eversource

Eversource (NYSE: ES), celebrated as a national leader for its corporate citizenship, is the #1 energy company in Newsweek 's list of America's Most Responsible Companies for 2021 and recognized as one of America's Most JUST Companies. Eversource transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas and supplies water to 1.8 million customers throughout Massachusetts, including approximately 1.45 million electric customers in 142 communities, 635,000 gas customers in 110 communities, and 6,700 water customers in two communities. Eversource harnesses the commitment of approximately 9,300 employees across three states to build a single, united company around the mission of safely delivering reliable energy and water with superior customer service. The #1 energy efficiency provider in the nation, the company is empowering a clean energy future in the Northeast, with nationally recognized energy efficiency solutions and successful programs to integrate new clean energy resources like solar, offshore wind, electric vehicles and battery storage, into the electric system. For more information, please visit eversource.com, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. For more information on our water services, visit aquarionwater.com.

About National Grid

About National Grid: National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. National Grid is transforming our electricity and natural gas networks with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For more information, please visit our website, follow us on Twitter, watch us on YouTube, friend us on Facebook, and find our photos on Instagram.

CONTACTS:
William Hinkle, Eversource
603-634-2222
[email protected]

Chris McKinnon
617-424-2108
[email protected]

John Lamontagne, National Grid
339-223-6077
[email protected]

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