Environment Council of Rhode Island

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The Environment Council of Rhode Island has a long history of strong support for renewable energy development and the laws that facilitate that development. This is only one aspect of our wider efforts to combat climate change.

In 2008 and 2009, ECRI strongly supported General Assembly passage of the Long-Term Contracting Statute for renewable energy. Long-term contracts are critical for developers of new renewable resources to obtain the loans most need to build their projects.

However, ECRI strongly opposed the 2010 amendments to the LTC Statute. The amendments were not designed to promote renewable energy. Rather they were designed to facilitate one project for one specific developer, Deepwater Wind. In order to build a strong renewable energy future for Rhode Island, our state laws need to establish a clear set of rules that guide renewable energy development. The rules should be set in advance and must be applicable to all developers.

The 2010 amendments to the LTC statutes changed the rules for offshore wind projects only after the proposed Deepwater project had been considered by the Public Utilities Commission. Changing the rules after the game is played creates an unstable business environment and therefore is bad for business and, ultimately, bad for developing renewable energy.

Furthermore, legislative re-opening of the quasijudicial PUC decision after the fact also violates separation of powers and is therefore unconstitutional ECRI believes that long-term renewable energy development is not helped or fostered by creating illegal and unconstitutional processes.

Finally, the 2010 amendments to the LTC Statute also created a new set of rules applicable only to Deepwater. Building a strong renewable energy future for Rhode Island will take multiple developers building multiple projects utilizing a variety of technologies. Legislation crafted to benefit a single corporation is, again, bad for business and, ultimately, bad for developing renewable energy.

ECRI continues to support a renewable energy future, and believes that the best way to get there is to create a clear path forward so that all developers can see their way through a fair process that is applied equally to all.