Massachusetts cannot afford to develop an offshore wind power grid in piecemeal fashion if it wants to hit its legally mandated 50% emissions reduction goal by the end of this decade and net-zero in 2050, warned undersecretary of energy Judy Chang.

“I’m staring at these numbers and developing policies to achieve these targets. It will be very challenging. We certainly cannot do it without having a really close look about how to plan the transmission and build the transmission we need,” she told the annual meeting of industry group WIRES in Washington, DC.