RI Congressional Delegation Urges Federal Energy Regulators to Properly Account for Renewable Energy Resources

Press Release

Today U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to improve the methods for projecting electricity capacity and setting energy prices across New England. In a letter to FERC Chairman Norman C. Bay, the Rhode Island delegation said the operator of New England's power grid insufficiently counts so-called distributed generation sources of energy, such as solar panels on consumers' homes, when tallying the region's future energy needs. Although FERC recently ordered the regional grid operator to begin including some of these renewable energy resources, it still ignores large portions of distributed generation across New England.

Each year, New England conducts an energy auction process that projects the region's electricity capacity needs several years into the future. Neglecting these sources of renewable energy that are expected to be on the electricity grid, the lawmakers wrote, inflates the region's projected capacity shortfall and drives up the amount of capacity the region needs to buy at auction, resulting in unnecessarily high prices for Rhode Islanders.

"We must work cooperatively with utilities and regulators to ensure Rhode Islanders have access to affordable energy. In assessing our energy capacity needs, we need to look at the full picture, so it's important for FERC to examine the method by which electricity prices are currently calculated, and part of that is assessing the supply and demand of energy. Renewable energy sources should be taken into account as part of that calculation, and if they are not, it is important to understand why and what the implications are for consumers and electricity markets," said Reed.

"Simply ignoring large amounts of renewable generation is a mistake that costs New England ratepayers," said Whitehouse. "I'm glad FERC has begun to push for some distributed generation in these auctions, but it's time to give renewable energy producers full credit for the electricity that they are putting into the New England grid."

"Rhode Island is facing a potential shortfall in energy capacity in the coming years, meaning that we may be unable to meet demand, and costs could continue to climb. Holding the line on energy costs, which are already too high, is critical for Rhode Island families. I urge FERC to work with the Congressional delegation and our partners to address these concerns and outline a better path forward that will ensure an affordable and sufficient energy supply for the state and the region, including the use of renewables and other emerging technologies," said Langevin, Energy Task Force Chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition.

"Whenever FERC overlooks renewable sources of energy in their capacity projections, Rhode Islanders are left holding the bill," said Cicilline. "Although I'm pleased we've made some progress, it's critical that FERC start counting the full amount of renewable energy on our electricity grid in order to bring down exorbitant energy costs in Rhode Island."