PUC ask for help in electricity delivery pricing

WARWICK – The R.I. Public Utilities Commission has launched a fact-finding mission to determine how best to address pricing issues related to the state’s quickly evolving electric grid.

The three-member commission on Thursday voted unanimously in favor of beginning the process, which calls for different stakeholders from within Rhode Island’s energy sector to establish an equitable plan laying out who should pay how much to ensure the lights continue to turn on.

“My own concern is that I don’t feel I could fully explain to someone who asked how any individual program that we deal with regularly is affected by other similar programs that sometimes seem to be competing against each other, at least when we’re making rate determinations,” said Margaret E. Curran, chairperson of the PUC.

The impetus for exploring these issues stems from National Grid PLC, the state’s largest utility company, which asked for permission to assess a new set of cost-of-service fees on certain renewable energy projects. The projects include net-metering customers, who generate and distribute energy from their property using renewable energy projects and receive credits for any excess energy put back into the grid. The fees would have gone toward paying for infrastructure costs associated with National Grid’s upkeep of the system.

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National Grid in January rescinded its proposal after receiving a considerable amount of pushback from renewable energy advocates, who argued the new fees were unjustifiably quantified and would likely dissuade future customers, businesses and municipalities from investing in renewable energy projects because there would be less of an economic incentive.

Upon rescinding the proposal, the utility company said it would be willing to further discuss some of these issues, according to PUC documents, which was the impetus for launching this exploratory effort.

“It’s really about equitable allocation and appropriate price signals for how the system is paid for, which I think is the foundation of how we move forward,” Commissioner Paul J. Roberti said.

The PUC is also looking for outside guidance and last month put out a request for proposal for consultants to come in and facilitate the process, which will likely end up as a report of recommendations for the commission.

The RFP was issued on Feb. 26 with a submission deadline of March 25. The commission projects its facilitator will come online in late April.

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