Rhode Island and energy efficiency

Summary: A densely populated small state, Rhode Island uses less energy per person than any other state in the United States. Most electricity generated in Rhode Island was derived from natural gas (83 percent) in 2022.

Rhode Island is committed to energy efficiency and reduction of its carbon footprint and has made significant progress in this area since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Existing and potential sources of renewable energy for Rhode Island include biodiesel, wind, solar, and hydropower.

Covering an area of 1,545 miles, Rhode Island is only 40 miles long and 30 miles wide, making it the smallest of any American state. Water covers 500 square miles of Rhode Island, and its southern border runs for 400 miles along the Atlantic Ocean. The only major river is the Sakonnet, and the only major lake is Scituate Reservoir. Therefore, the use of hydroelectricity is negligible. Rhode Island’s land area is densely populated, and there is significant industrialization throughout the state.

Of all the fifty states, Rhode Island uses the least energy per capita, about 987 MMBtu in 2022. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the state used 187 trillion British thermal units (Btu) of energy in 2022 and ranked second after Vermont in the least amount of carbon dioxide generated. Petroleum is the most commonly used source of energy overall. EIA data show that in 2022, transportation consumed the lion’s share of energy in Rhode Island (57.2 trillion Btu), followed by households (46.5 trillion Btu) and commerce (30.3 trillion Btu) and industry (19.2 trillion Btu).

As early as 2006, Rhode Island began actively pursuing the feasibility of deriving energy from wind sources. The Rhode Island Winds (RIWINDS) program set out with a goal of ensuring that Rhode Island would be receiving a fifth of all of its renewable energy from wind power by 2011. As of 2022, the state's wind energy sector was producing 714 billion Btus. Rhode Island also formed a partnership with neighboring Massachusetts to pursue use of renewable biodiesel fuel for home heating purposes. In 2023 home heating oil contained 5 percent biodiesel, with a goal of increasing to B50, or 50 percent biodiesel, by July 2030.

Following the release of a 2007 study that estimated that the state could meet 15 percent of its electricity demand from offshore wind energy, efforts to promote the use of wind energy accelerated more rapidly. In May 2017, the United States' first offshore wind power plant, the 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm, launched commercial operations. In 2023, the state predicted that its renewable sector, of which wind played a major role, would allow Rhode Island to reduce its carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

Most residents of Rhode Island receive their electricity from ISO-New England, and gas is supplied by Algonquin Gas Transmission as part of a regional transmission system. Petroleum, heating oils, transportation fuels, and liquid natural gas are channeled through the Port of Providence. In 2022, Rhode Island produced 7,519 gigawatt-hours of electricity, less than all but two other states. Approximately 92 percent of electricity generation in Rhode Island came from natural gas in 2022, according to EIA figures. Wind power, biomass, solar photovoltaic installations, landfill gas, and petroleum (just 1 percent) supplied the remainder.

Policies and Funding

At the end of the twentieth century, Rhode Island, like most American states, was heavily dependent on fossil fuels. The twenty-first century brought a new commitment to converting to renewable forms of energy. Rhode Island offers state residents financial incentives to convert to renewable forms of energy. By state law, renewable energy products are exempt from sales tax and such systems are exempt from property taxes as well. Residents may also apply for a residential renewable energy system tax credit on solar energy products such as solar hot water systems, solar space-heating systems, as well as wind, geothermal, and photovoltaic energy systems. Net metering is available to individuals who own solar systems, meaning they can receive credits for the energy they supply to the electric grid. The state also sponsors weatherization programs to retrofit existing homes to boost energy efficiency, as well as a private-public partnership that raises solar energy awareness and tries to reduce installation costs.

The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources provides funding for exploration of alternative sources of energy and grants low-interest loans for completion of such projects. An effort has been made to coordinate the efforts of grassroots groups working to promote wind energy under the Rhode Island Wind Alliance. The Rhode Island Renewable Energy Fund, which operates under the auspices of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, has approved a number of projects designed to harness wind and wave energy. One such project was the first utility-scale wind turbine built in the state. Portsmouth Abbey Wind Turbine was erected at the Portsmouth Abbey School overlooking Narragansett Bay. The turbine provides 40 percent of the school’s need for electricity. In 2003, the Rhode Island Renewable Fund began participating in a partnership with the foreign-owned Oceanlinx with the intention of building a moored wave-energy system at Point Judith Harbor of Refuge, which would be capable of generating 225 kilowatts of energy annually and have a 750-kilowatt maximum capacity. Rhode Island has also pursued the use of solar energy with funding from the Renewable Energy Fund and the Office of Energy Resources. The Solar on Schools Initiative, for instance, has furnished schools with solar photovoltaic equipment, a Web-based data-collecting system, teacher training, and course materials.

In 2009, the US Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and asked each state to submit to the federal government information on how energy grant money would be spent. Governor Donald L. Carcieri assured Secretary of Energy Steven Chu that Rhode Island was prioritizing energy investments, improving building codes, and enacting new legislation. Rhode Island benefited from the August 2010 announcement that the Department of Energy was releasing some $120 million to be used for advancing innovative weatherization projects in the various states.

In October 2010, the Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other relevant federal agencies announced the release of approximately $5 million to be used to promote research on renewable ocean energy, including the construction of offshore wind energy facilities and the possibility of generating energy from waves, tides, currents, and thermal gradients. The University of Rhode Island was selected to conduct research on the use of the Atlantic Ocean to generate renewable energy. The following month, Secretary Chu announced that roughly $21 million was to be distributed for funding state technical assistance projects designed to improve energy efficiency in commercial sectors. This funding was instrumental in paving the way for pressurized-water reactor development in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

In 2023, the General Assembly voted to expand offshore wind projects from 600 to 1,000 MW. By 2030, it was expected to provide at least 30 percent of the state's electricity. Nine leases for wind farms proposed to place turbines about fifteen miles south of the Rhode Island coast. However, opposition to approved wind farm developments threatened to slow construction of these projects in 2024.

In 2009, Rhode Island joined the other New England states, Maryland, New York, and Delaware in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the country's "first mandatory, market-based cap-and-trade program." The states auction carbon dioxide emission allowances and invest the funds in their own energy efficiency and conservation initiatives.

Bibliography

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