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Rhode Island Energy Reform

Rhode Island is implementing sweeping energy reforms, including a mandate to purchase all cost-effective efficiency and demand-side resources before traditional supply. A new stakeholder council is working with state officials and others to implement these reforms and other policies that significantly increase investments in efficiency and other clean, cost-effective resources.

 

Background

State officials concerned about Rhode Island’s energy security invited ENE to share policy ideas and data analysis, and then later to help draft an energy planning and procurement policy for...
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Rhode Island Energy Reform

The Energy Efficiency Resources Management Council (EERMC) is charged with overseeing the implementation of Comprehensive Energy Conservation, Efficiency and Affordability Act of 2006, which includes precedent-setting reforms such as mandating that the state purchase all electric and natural gas efficiency that is cheaper than supply.

ENE is one of the appointees chosen to represent a wide range of consumer interests on the EERMC. The group is taking important steps to put new reforms into action by assessing availability of demand-side resources and planning for long-term procurement. These steps include:
 

  • Developing a 3-year electric efficiency planned endorsed by the RI Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The PUC approved the plan to ramp-up spending on efficiency, increasing annual electric efficiency investments from $14 million (2008) to $44 million (2011) for all customer sectors (residential, low-income, commercial, and industrial).  This level of investment would place RI in the top five states nationally, and would generate more $100 million in net savings for customers.
  • Implementing significantly expanded energy efficiency plans that will save Rhode Island consumers $90 million in 2009. Put forward by the Council and approved by the RI PUC, the 2009 Efficiency Plan directs National Grid to increase investments in energy efficiency resources that are cheaper than supply. (See ENE press release, RI 2009 Energy Efficiency Plans to Save Consumers $90M.)
  • Developing an Opportunity Report identifying opportunities for the utility to purchase low-cost efficiency and system reliability resources.
  • Work with consultants, utility and business and community partners to put in place a System Reliability Plan for new strategies for deploying distributed generation, demand response, and renewable energy resources to avoid the need for expensive, new transmission and distribution upgrades.

As a pioneer of efficiency policies, Rhode Island is well-positioned to use new federal funding streams made available for existing or expanding state programs. RI can serve as a model for policies to be adopted nationwide. ENE is working in RI to help guide effective investment of federal (SEP) efficiency funds made available through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, with an emphasis on expanding efficiency programs to include underinvested sectors such as heating oil and whole-building improvements. (See Federal Energy Reform for more on efficiency allocations in the Recovery Act.)

 

Also, ENE participated in PUC process to create RI’s natural gas efficiency fund, a $6-million-per-year program that is one of the largest in the region per capita. ENE is working to help further expand the fund and integrate it with other efficiency programs.