Rhode Island Sets Renewable Energy Requirements

July 7, 2004

Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri signed a bill on June 29th requiring utilities to draw on renewable energy for a specific percentage of the electricity they sell. The Renewable Energy Standard bill requires utilities to use renewable energy for 3 percent of the electricity that they sell in 2007, increasing to 16 percent by 2019, with not more than 2 percent of sales coming from currently existing renewable energy projects. For purposes of the bill, renewable energy includes solar, wind, ocean, and geothermal energy, certain biomass resources, and run-of-river hydropower plants not larger than 30 megawatts in capacity. Utilities falling short of the requirement must pay $50 per megawatt-hour of shortfall into a Renewable Energy Development Fund. See the text of the bill (PDF 34 KB) and confirm its status by entering "7375" in the "Bills" category on the Rhode Island General Assembly Bills Status System Web site. Download Acrobat Reader.