NEWS

RI now has nation's boldest renewable energy law. Here's what it does, and doesn't, do

Alex Kuffner
The Providence Journal

NORTH PROVIDENCE — With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Dan McKee enacted the most aggressive plan to ramp up renewable energy of any state in the nation. 

Flanked by legislators and environmental advocates, McKee signed a bill on Wednesday that requires Rhode Island to gradually increase its purchases of renewable energy, with a goal of offsetting all of the state’s electric usage with solar, wind and the like by 2033. 

McKee described the legislation, which extends the policy that forms the basis for the support of clean energy in Rhode Island, as a boon not just for the environment. The Renewable Energy Standard, as it’s known, helps fund the development of greener sources of electricity, moving the state and the region away from fossil fuels while also creating local jobs.  

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“We have momentum on clean energy,” the governor said. “There is an opportunity ahead of us like we’ve never seen before.” 

The bill-signing was held in the shadow of ground-mounted solar panels that were installed atop a closed landfill in North Providence four years ago.

The 2.7-megawatt project developed by Warwick-based Revity Energy (formerly Southern Sky Renewable Energy) has been celebrated for its reuse of a brownfields site and its benefit to the city. North Providence, which owns the land, expects to make millions in rent and taxes over the 25-year life of the project. 

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Supporters of the renewable energy law say the solar array is an example of the type of project that they want to see more of. 

“This is what we’re trying to do,” said Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, who was lead sponsor of the bill along with Rep. Deborah Ruggiero.  

It's not the end of power from fossil fuels

Although the law requires electric providers to increase their purchases of renewable energy, the measure won’t mean the end of fossil fuel-fired power plants in Rhode Island. That’s because the law measures renewable energy supplies through renewable energy certificates, market-based instruments that represent the environmental benefits of renewables. 

Developers generate certificates as they produce renewable energy. They then sell the certificates to supplement their revenues. It’s money that helps more solar arrays and wind farms get built. As they come online, they help displace dirtier sources of power.  

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The certificates are sold separately from actual energy production, so electric providers may buy certificates from projects built anywhere in New England. 

The certificates are seen as equivalent to renewable energy, but they don’t represent actual usage. Instead, they offset that use.

A small portion of ratepayers' bills  

The impact on electric ratepayers of the renewable standard has fluctuated over the years, but it makes up only a small portion of the total bill, which for a typical customer can be more than $100 a month.  

Over the past decade, the renewable charge has generally amounted to less than $2 a month for that same customer, but it has been as low as 2 cents and as high as about $4, depending on supplies of renewable energy certificates, according to filings with utilities regulators. 

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The amendment to the law is just one of a series of climate measures adopted by state government this year. They include funding for electric heat pumps and electric vehicle charging stations as well as a move to buy more offshore wind power.