Misguided Renewable Energy Policy

Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER) is aggressively promoting large utility scale solar systems through very generous tax incentives and subsidies. The rush to utility scale renewable energy as advocated by the OER has unanticipated and significant negative impacts on Rhode Island cities and towns. The OER has unleashed a firestorm of aggressive, and some unscrupulous, developers upon the unprepared rural towns that are now struggling to develop ordinances to properly locate and regulate the large utility scale solar facilities misnomered as “Solar Farms”.

Appeals from the affected municipalities, residents, and environmental groups to the Raimondo administration for a moratorium so the rural communities could appropriately amend their ordinances has fallen upon deaf ears. Unlike residential solar systems that receive only a one time limited tax credit, utility scale solar systems in addition to a federal tax credit of 30 percent on installation costs receive exorbitant subsidies for the 20 year duration of the solar facility.

The Energy Charge by National Grid for the month of August 2018 in my electric bill was $84.87 per Megawatt (MW) as opposed to the subsidy of $187.50 per (MW) per the 2018 Renewable Energy Growth Program for Non-Residential Customers Tariff Supplement paid to solar facility developers. That is MORE than DOUBLE the ELECTRICITY COST that will be passed on to yours and my electric bills.

The subsidies together with tax incentives are so lucrative that it has attracted developers from across the country to Rhode Island. Assuming that each 10 MW solar array facility produces an average of 6 MW per day for 200 days per year the electric power transmitted to National Grid would produce an income to the developer of $2,250,000 each year.

This developer “Cash Cow” is the result of the extensive campaign donations and/or lobbying by select developers of our state public officials and in Exeter the controlling majority town council. Part of these generous subsidies finds their way back to our public officials who in return keep the “Cash Cow” delivering. And the circle of money manipulation between developers and our public officials continues in typical Rhode Island fashion!