A bipartisan push for change
In 2006, Republican Governor Donald L. Carcieri nudged Rhode Island toward greater use of renewable energy when he unveiled a plan to reduce energy costs and set a general goal of having 15 percent of the state’s energy come from renewable sources. He also named Andrew Dzykewicz as the state’s first chief energy advisor.
The state raised the target to 20 percent when a subsequent study found that Rhode Island could, in theory, get 75 percent of its energy from just wind-related projects. The more conservative goal was chosen, Dzykewicz says, because of the possible opposition from people, as with some of Cape Wind’s deep-pocketed opponents, who don’t want a wind farm in their proverbial backyard.
While reaching the 20 percent goal by the target date of 2011 will be “a stretch,” Dzykewicz expects that it will be attained in relatively short order and that Rhode Island has “huge” potential to benefit from increased use of renewable energy.
In particular, he says, Quonset Point’s location makes it desirable as a manufacturing point for turbines for Cape Wind and perhaps other East Coast wind farm projects. Because the blades for the turbines are 50 meters long, it’s preferable to have them built close to their destination, so they can be moved on ships. Such a plant could be expected to employ close to 1000 people, and there be could be significant economic multipliers for other businesses.
Just when a wind farm may be established in Rhode Island is a matter of some debate. Bill Fischer, a spokesman for Allco Renewable Energy, the company that has expressed interest in such a venture, thinks such a project would require at least seven years. Some other observers, though, believe it could be done in less time.
First, however, the state has to create a process for considering such proposals. The state Coastal Resources Management Council, which has oversight over the state’s coastline, voted earlier this month to delay a decision on creating a one-year moratorium on considering offshore wind farms and similar projects. Like a number of environmentalists, Dzykewicz believes the process should be expedited, so that projects can be considered sooner, rather than later. As he put it, “As soon as we figure out the best way to do this, we’re ready to go.”
George Nee, secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, is similarly upbeat about the prospects for renewable energy, pointing to the prospects for job creation and a commitment from legislative leaders. “I think there’s more movement in this area than we’ve ever seen,” he says.
While Dzykewicz is optimistic about the outlook for boosting renewable energy in Rhode Island, the worst-case scenario would occur if the state delayed and the Ocean State wound up relying on others for its sources of renewable energy.
Helping to provide support for the cause is a coalition of labor unions, environmental advocates, anti-poverty advocates and others, who dub themselves the Rhode Island Green Jobs Alliance. “As we face an economic downturn, green jobs present one of the best ways to secure our economic future — they are skilled labor and fill our society’s most vital needs,” says state Senator Josh Miller (D-Cranston), a member of the group. “If we advance this agenda now, we’ll be at the fore of the new energy economy. If we don’t act quickly, other states surely will.”
Making the most of the opportunity
State Representative David Segal (D-Providence), a Green-turned-Democrat with a longstanding interest in environmental issues, calls the seven legislative measures supported by the alliance one of the single most important things for advancing renewable energy in Rhode Island.
Some of these bills would finance, invest in, and encourage public transit, by, for example, allowing students at state colleges to use their campus ID as a bus pass. The others are meant to build support for, and increase access to, renewable energy sources: one of these bills would eliminate the tax-credit caps on residential renewable systems, making it easier for people to put up small wind installations, solar hot water systems, and solar panels.
Yet perhaps most significant is the measure that seeks to create incentive for installing renewable energy sources to help meet electricity needs. It would do this by ensuring that individuals or entities that produce excess electricity, which can then be pumped back into the grid and distributed by National Grid, are compensated for their effort.
As it stands, Rhode Island’s net-metering law caps the amount of electricity that an individual or entity can sell back to the grid at five megs, up from a previous limit of one meg, but still tiny in the larger scheme of things. During days of peak-energy demand in the summer, the state consumes about 2000 megawatts of electricity.
So it’s not surprising that environmental advocates, including Segal, Environment Rhode Island’s Auten, and Chris Wilhite, director of the Sierra Club’s Rhode Island chapter, point to expanded net-metering as one of the keys to advancing the use of renewable energy in Rhode Island.
They also call for a major upgrade in the state’s renewable energy fund. The fund, through an assessment on ratepayers, compiles about $2.2 million a year, but since it is used against projects that not uncommonly cost $500,000, that doesn’t go too far. With a recent op-ed in the ProJo, Auten and Jim Seveney, vice president of the town council in Portsmouth, proposed creating a municipal renewable energy fund that could offset the payback period for municipal renewable energy projects.
Finding the right mix of incentives to move forward the cause of renewable energy remains an ongoing process in Rhode Island. Yet just the fact that this effort has started is good news.
