A major energy storage facility opened this week in Gorham that is the largest of its kind in the ISO New England grid.
Plus Power’s Cross Town Energy Storage project stores surplus electricity in large batteries when demand is low and sends it back to the grid when demand is high.
Gov. Janet Mills touted the project, saying it boosts Maine’s power reliability and efficiency, while mitigating price spikes.
“Today, Maine welcomed the largest energy storage project of its kind in New England, delivering real cost savings and reliable power for Maine,” Mills said in a news release. “This project will help lower electricity costs by reducing the need for costly fossil fuels when the grid is strained, as we’ve seen during recent extreme cold weather. I congratulate the town of Gorham and Plus Power on this significant achievement that will deliver lasting savings and reliability for Maine people.”
The site has a capacity of 175 megawatts, which helps Maine reach its goal of having 400 megawatts of battery energy storage by 2030.
For the Gorham site, Plus Power, which is based in Houston and San Francisco and has projects in 20 states, worked with Pittsfield-based Cianbro Corp. on the engineering, procurement and construction of the facility.
The site
The five-acre Cross Town site is located at 61 Hutcherson Drive in the Gorham Industrial Park, connecting to the adjacent Central Maine Power Co. 115-kilovolt Moshers substation, where the transmission grid is particularly congested.
The site is expected to ease congestion and serve as a waypoint between sources of wind power in northern Maine and energy users in southern Maine and Boston.
Cross Town will also help ISO New England make up for the power capacity lost by retiring gas and other power plants.
“Plus Power is proud to operate another landmark facility in New England and further strengthen power reliability in the region,” said Naveen Abraham, CEO of Plus Power. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with ISO New England as our facilities demonstrate the unique capabilities of battery energy storage systems.”
Cross Town features 156 units of the PowerTitan battery energy storage system, which is produced by the Chinese company Sungrow.
Cross Town is Plus Power’s second battery energy storage project in New England. Its 150-megawatt Cranberry Point Energy Storage facility in Carver, Mass., south of Boston, became operational in spring 2025.