PHOTO CAPTION: Ceremonial ribbon cutting marks completion of Cross Town energy storage project. From left to right, participants include Joshua Gale, VP and GM, Power & Energy, Cianbro; Naveen Abraham, CEO, Plus Power; Maine Governor Janet Mills; Dan Burgess, Acting Commissioner of the Maine Department of Energy Resources; and Kevin Jensen, Economic Development Director, Town of Gorham. (Photo courtesy of Plus Power)

At a Feb. 11 ribbon-cutting ceremony, Plus Power LLC, based in Houston, Texas, celebrated the recent completion of its Cross Town Energy Storage facility. Located on over five acres of land between the Gorham Industrial Park and the Mosher’s Corner area on Route 25, the 175-MW-battery facility is now the largest project of its kind in New England, and one of the largest in the Northeast. The location was chosen primarily because of its proximity to CMP’s Mosher’s substation.

Cross Town’s connection to the ISO New England grid went online and was fully operational as of Nov. 29, 2025. According to Power Plus, the Cross Town facility has continued to operate as planned, such as during recent extreme cold weather events and during a large late January snowstorm.
As a utility-scale battery project, Cross Town is designed to store excess electrical energy from the grid at times when customer demand is lower and renewable energy production is higher. At times of peak demand, Cross Town’s batteries will release electricity into the grid in order to maintain and balance the flow of electrical energy. By absorbing intermittent energy spikes (such as from renewables), projects like Cross Town enhance the reliability of the power grid, lessening future energy price increases, while helping to make renewable energy more reliable and economical.
Governor Janet Mills spoke at the ceremony. She said, “Today, Maine welcomed the largest energy storage project of its kind in New England, delivering real cost savings and reliable power for Maine. 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.”

Speakers from Plus Power LLC and others cited Maine’s leadership on battery storage policies, which led Plus Power to build this 175 MW / 350 MWh facility in Gorham, part of the State of Maine’s goal of building 400 MW of battery energy storage by 2030. (This is related to the state’s efforts to achieve 90% renewable energy use by 2030 and 100% by 2040.)

Plus Power officials have also cited Maine-based Cianbro Corporation’s efforts in project engineering, procurement, and construction as being essential to the development of the facility.

“Plus Power is proud to operate another landmark facility in New England and further strengthen power reliability in the region,” said Naveen Abraham, chief executive officer 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.”

The industrial-scale storage capacity of Cross Town is enabled by 156 large storage containers, which are each filled to capacity with lithium phosphate batteries. Currently, Plus Power has over 60 energy storage projects online or in development across the United States and Canada. The only comparable large battery storage facility operating in New England is the 150 MW Cranberry Point facility in Carver, Mass.

Cross Town’s location enables it to ease congestion at the Mosher substation and facilitate the transmission of wind power from Northern Maine and hydro power from Quebec, Canada, to meet demand in Southern Maine and the Boston area. Cross Town will also help ISO New England make up for the power capacity lost by retiring gas-powered plants and other reduced capacity. During the recent frigid cold weather in January and February, Cross Town and Cranberry Point were both fully online to help ISO New England balance energy flow and reduce peak power costs.

The 156 units at Cross Town feature Sungrow’s PowerTitan battery storage systems, which are considered highly suited for performing efficiently in Maine’s dynamically changing climate.