NEW: House Passes Bill To Cut Energy Costs, Create Green Jobs
Thursday, May 19, 2011
A bill targeting cutting consumer energy costs, reducing carbon emissions and creating green jobs locally passed the Rhode Island House on Wednesday. It will now go to the state Senate, where an identical companion bill has already been submitted.
The bill (2011-H 5281), which is sponsored by Rep. Deborah Ruggiero, would extend an expiration date on the law establishing the state’s Renewable Energy Fund and would make a technical change necessary for the implementation of existing law requiring utilities to invest in energy efficiency when it’s less expensive than the energy it would save.
“Energy efficiency is an investment that pays dividends economically and environmentally, and our energy providers should be required to make those investments when they reduce costs to businesses and consumers,” said Ruggiero, who serves as chairperson of the Small Business Renewable Energy Task Force. “Investing in renewable energy, which can be produced here in Rhode Island, and in efficiency services, also creates well-paid green jobs in an economy where people really need them.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe legislation is aimed at final implementation of the state’s “least cost procurement” law, which was overwhelmingly approved by the General Assembly in 2006 and 2008, and requires natural gas and electric companies serving Rhode Island to make investments in energy efficiency programs when their costs would be less than the purchase price of the fuel they would save.
Savings on Retrofits
For example, if providing an energy-efficiency retrofit to customers would result in reductions in energy costs for those households that are greater than the cost of the retrofit, the utility is required to provide the retrofit to customers.
While the legislation saves ratepayers money overall, it transfers some costs that would otherwise be paid for as fuel purchases to the energy efficiency charge, which is capped. The legislation lifts that cap to make full implementation of the least-cost procurement laws possible.
That implementation would mean new investments in household and business energy efficiency in the state, which in turn would put more Rhode Islanders to work performing energy audits, energy-efficiency improvements and in other green jobs.
The bill has the support of National Grid, People’s Power and Light, Conservation Law Foundation as well as the Energy Council of Rhode Island (TEC-RI), a nonprofit coalition of about 60 companies and institutions that are among the major energy consumers in the state, dedicated to lowering the cost of energy in Rhode Island.
The legislation also moves the sunset provision on the law establishing the Renewable Energy Fund from 2013 to 2018. The Renewable Energy Fund, administered by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, is dedicated to increasing the role of renewable energy in Rhode Island’s electricity supply.
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