Rep. Deborah Ruggiero
When I first ran for office, I campaigned on a platform of “environmental economics.” What does that mean?
It means putting wind turbines, solar arrays and small-scale renewable energy projects at the forefront of economic development. It means creating projects right here in Rhode Island that create jobs for Rhode Islanders while reducing our dependency on dirty fossil fuels.
That’s exactly what has happened here in this state over the past seven years. Rhode Island has gone from a laggard to a leader in renewable energy. From 2014 to 2015, the clean energy sector grew 6.6 percent, far exceeding the state’s overall employment growth of less than 1 percent. There are over 13,776 clean energy jobs in Rhode Island, up 40 percent from last year!
Today, one of the biggest challenges companies cite is finding qualified workers. In the past year, eight in 10 companies reported that finding qualified workers is “very difficult.” Installation is by far the largest employment segment of the clean-energy economy in Rhode Island, but an emerging innovation ecosystem focused on smart grid and energy management is a significant growth opportunity as well.
It’s why I’ve sponsored House bill 7890 (Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed is sponsoring its companion, 2328, in the Senate) that adds career and skills training as a focus for the Governor’s Workforce Development Board. We need to ensure that Rhode Islanders are trained on solar installations, electrical apprentice programs and implementing energy efficiency programs. This is a current and future economy and we need qualified Rhode Islanders to fill these jobs.
The Renewable Energy Growth Program (REG) that I sponsored and that was overwhelming passed by Democrats and Republicans in 2015 expanded the program to 160 MW of capacity over five years.
This allows homeowners, businesses and municipalities to install renewable energy systems — solar, wind, small scale hydropower — over a 15- to 20-year period of financing for lower electricity costs. The REG program is spawning a huge “solarize” economic sector that didn’t exist in 2010. My bill H7473 extends this successful REG program another 10 years.
These renewable energy projects are built right here in Rhode Island employing our friends and neighbors. In 2015, over 25 cities and towns in Rhode Island were awarded renewable energy projects through the Renewable Energy Growth Program: Three wind turbines are being built in Coventry; East Providence is expanding its solar system on its closed landfill; and over 160 home owners have installed solar arrays on their rooftops to save on electricity.
The third and most important bill I’ve sponsored this year is H7413, extending Rhode Island’s Renewable Energy Standard, which is the state’s goal for renewable energy use. Rhode Island made a policy decision 11 years ago (before my time) that National Grid must acquire 1.5 percent of electricity from renewables.
Before my distributed generation pilot program in 2010, Grid was buying renewables out of state in MA, VT, ME, NY, and CT— everywhere but Rhode Island. That’s now changed.
The Renewable Energy Standard expires in 2019. We need to extend this to 2035 so renewable energy developers will finance 15- to 20-year renewable energy projects to be built in this state. They need to know the state is in the renewable energy game for the long term.
So, from an economic stand point, the clean energy sector has been a very bright spot in our economy. “Environmental economics” means a lot to this state’s economy.
If you have any questions or want to know more about what you can do as a business owner or homeowner, please call me at 423-0444 or email me at rep-ruggiero@rilegislature.gov
Rep. Deborah Ruggiero (D-Dist. 74, Jamestown, Middletown) chaired Small Business Renewable Energy Task Force that generated a suite of clean energy laws for Rhode Island.
