NE4OSW Urges Rhode Island to Collaborate on Offshore Wind Procurement with Neighboring States
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 19, 2023
Contact:
Jennifer Delony, New England for Offshore Wind
jdelony@ne4osw.org, 603.320.7043
NE4OSW Urges Rhode Island to Collaborate on Offshore Wind Procurement with Neighboring States
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – July 19, 2023 – New England for Offshore Wind (@NE4OSW) issued the following statement today from Amanda Barker, Policy Associate at Green Energy Consumers Alliance and the coalition’s Rhode Island State Lead, regarding Rhode Island Energy’s (RIE) decision to reject the Revolution Wind 2 proposal for a long-term offshore wind energy contract.
“We are disappointed to learn that RIE didn’t choose to move forward in negotiating a power purchase agreement. Offshore wind holds great promise to not only help Rhode Island achieve its100% Renewable Energy Standard and Act on Climate mandates, but also to create good-paying union jobs, enhance our local economy, and free us from fossil fuel price volatility. RIE must now justify their decision with the Public Utilities Commission, and we will be following that proceeding closely.
The coalition strongly supports ensuring fair energy prices for ratepayers, and we now call on New England states to collaborate on a joint procurement initiative. We believe a unified demand for offshore wind energy will allow states to pool their resources, attract increased private sector investments, and encourage developers to scale up their projects thereby benefitting from economies of scale that can lower overall costs. Offshore wind holds tremendous promise as a clean, reliable, and scalable source of energy to combat the climate crisis. We must continue to move forward while learning from Rhode Island’s and other states’ experiences, and a joint procurement approach does just that.”
Background
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee signed legislation in July 2022 directing RIE to issue a competitive procurement of 600-1,000 MW before the end of the year. The utility subsequently released an offshore wind request for proposals in October. Østed and Eversource jointly submitted the only proposal for the RFP – the 884-MW Revolution Wind 2 project.
New England for Offshore Wind filed comments on the draft RFP with the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission that underscored a need for specificity, stringency, and transparency in Rhode Island Energy’s offshore wind procurement.
Resources
Rhode Island Energy Official Statement
Rhode Island Passes Offshore Wind and Renewable Energy Legislation
Statement on Rhode Island 30-day Public Comment Period for Offshore Wind RFP
NE4OSW Seeks RI Offshore Wind Procurements that Maximize Environmental, Socioeconomic Benefits
About New England for Offshore Wind
New England for Offshore Wind (www.NewEnglandforOffshoreWind.org) is a broad-based coalition of businesses and associations, environmental and justice organizations, academic institutions, and labor unions committed to combatting climate change by increasing the supply of clean energy to our regional grid through more procurements of responsibly developed offshore wind. We believe that responsibly developed offshore wind is the single biggest lever we can pull to address the climate crisis while also strengthening our regional economy, protecting ratepayers, creating high quality jobs, and improving public health by reducing pollution.
###