Power play

Lincoln D. Chafee has been a Republican, an independent and, for the past few months, a Democrat, along the winding political trail that’s taken him from mayor of Warwick to U.S. senator and, for the last three years, governor.
Now entering his final year as governor, Chafee is taking steps to ensure his legacy is defined by more than just the aftermath of the 38 Studios debacle and local infrastructure issues.
Chafee is preparing new energy legislation for the 2014 session of the General Assembly to designate large-scale hydropower as a source to meet state renewable-energy goals. That’s important, Chafee says, because it would add a low-cost option to the state’s renewable-energy mix. He said the state needs a diverse plan for renewable energy “because hydropower is even better than solar or wind. … We don’t know if the wind’s going to blow or the sun is going to shine, but water is going to run downhill.”

PBN: The Energy Reform Act of 2013 was submitted to the General Assembly last year on your behalf and met with quite a bit of opposition, including from National Grid and the Conservation Law Foundation. Some of that was related to the possible purchase of hydropower from Canada. Are you planning to resubmit that legislation to the 2014 session of the General Assembly?
CHAFEE: No. We’re starting over. Somehow we got off track last year with misconceptions of what we were trying to accomplish. The simple goal is to designate large-scale hydro as renewable. We’ll have a new bill. The plan is to have it ready for the new session.

PBN: Have you structured or devised the new bill yet?
CHAFEE: No. We’re working on it. On this one we’re working closely with National Grid. National Grid came out last time in opposition to our bill. It was a misunderstanding. We all have the same goal. Who can be opposed to low-cost, clean energy?

PBN: Wasn’t National Grid concerned about contracts they would have to have with Canadian hydropower companies?
CHAFEE: Yes, that’s what they were alleging. That certainly wasn’t the goal.

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PBN: What’s some of the background that’s led to this suggestion of using Canadian hydropower?
CHAFEE: The six New England governors for 30 years have been meeting with the premiers of the five Eastern Canadian provinces – Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec. There’s been more of a focus on a regional energy strategy. When we met in Burlington, Vt., in the summer of 2012, Premier Charest of Quebec said we have the chance to be the low-cost, green-energy capital of North America. He said, “What you New England governors have to do is designate large-scale hydro as a renewable.”

PBN: What did you think of that suggestion?
CHAFEE: Of course hydro, whether it’s small-scale or large-scale, is a renewable under every definition – rivers flow downhill, turbines turn. That to me is renewable. Let’s go back and fix this.

PBN: What is it that has to be fixed?
CHAFEE: A little bit of the history is that when they were first flooding some of the areas in Canada, the native people objected – they were the Cree Indians. They came down and they lobbied legislatures against including large-scale hydro as a renewable. So that’s the fix, because now the Cree are supportive, they’ve been brought into the process. It’s a completely different atmosphere than in the ’70s and ’80s when these exclusions of large-scale hydro were put into the definition of renewables.

PBN: Are you leading the charge on this, having hydro designated as a renewable?
CHAFEE: So far, Connecticut and Vermont have made the change.

PBN: How are you going to deal with the opposition you had last year? What’s going to be different?
CHAFEE: Now we’re also working with the Conservation Law Foundation, which was a big critic. Their fear is – the Conservation Law Foundation, from what I understand from them and the other New England governors who deal with them also – that large-scale hydro is going to squeeze out wind and solar investments.

PBN: And that is a concern for Rhode Island wind and solar companies.
CHAFEE: I want everyone standing up in favor, not opposition. We have to have diversity of renewable energy. Another interesting thing, when I look at a map showing wind direction, the prevailing winds bring that coal, all that black, in our direction. So we have an interest when we have high-asthma alerts and the like. And also, these pollutants that come out of the electric generating plants – carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide and mercury are the four pollutants. We regulate three of them so far, we’re trying to get to the carbon dioxide.

PBN: What are your plans for gaining support for hydropower as a renewable in Rhode Island?
CHAFEE: We’re coming back with that simple goal – we have a chance to be the low-cost, green-energy capital of North America if the New England governors can designate large-scale hydro as a renewable. The New England governors are all adamant that this is the direction we want to go. We’ve got climate change, which is a real issue. And we’ve got high-cost energy, which is a real issue.

PBN: What about the renewable energy companies in Rhode Island – solar and wind?
CHAFEE: The New England governors, who are all in favor of hydro as a renewable, we’re also concerned about the side issues. Are we going to squeeze out wind and solar? No, we don’t want that to happen.

PBN: What are you going to propose to National Grid?
CHAFEE: We’re at the table talking with National Grid about how the legislation can suit their needs. It might be that maybe we don’t even need any legislation, if the price is right and everybody’s moving in that direction. There’s a lot of work being done. National Grid thought it was a mandate that we were requiring a certain amount of hydro to be bought. Anytime there’s a sole-source provider of large-scale hydro … there’s only one of those and that’s Hydro-Quebec. National Grid was saying that then they’ll charge whatever they want, so if you’re telling us to buy large-scale hydro and that’s just Hydro-Quebec, then we’re in a bind there. That wasn’t the intent. If it’s not competitive with other renewables, then don’t buy it.

PBN: What other renewables are you finding that are cost-competitive?
CHAFEE: We’re seeing some of the wind projects being cost-competitive. There’s one called Bowers coming out of Maine that is very cost-competitive. That’s what we want to see – everybody driving down the price of electricity and getting us into renewables.

PBN: How are you looking at moving toward meeting the standards required for renewable energy?
CHAFEE: Every state has Renewable Portfolio Standards. Rhode Island’s is we have to have 16 percent renewables by 2019. If you can get the Bowers wind to get to your 16 percent by 2019, if you can get some geothermal, if you can get some solar, more power to you. We just want to make hydro one of the options to getting to that Renewable Portfolio Standard, that RPS of 16 percent by 2019. It’s another addition. If we get there quicker, all the better. Let’s raise it from 16 percent to 26 percent to 36 percent. Ideally, you want a mix, the more renewables the better.

PBN: But isn’t the issue that you’re discouraging renewable projects in Rhode Island? We have some solar, we have offshore wind trying to get the cables in.
CHAFEE: That’s the allegation. My pushback to that is we’ve been pursuing renewables since Jimmy Carter and it’s time for them to sharpen their pencil and get cost-competitive. And they are. The Bowers wind project is cost-competitive. You’ve got to bring this in at market value. We’re paying twice, triple the [alternative] cost for Deepwater Wind.

PBN: Aren’t you discouraging the one major Rhode Island wind developer, Deepwater Wind?
CHAFEE: No, we’re in on Deepwater Wind. That deal’s been done.

PBN: Deepwater still needs lots of permits. Even though the company is far along, don’t you think adding hydro as a renewable is going to make it tougher for it to develop as a Rhode Island business? CHAFEE: No, I think you’re mixing apples and oranges here. Deepwater Wind is proceeding. I think the next regulatory hurdle they have is where their transmission line comes ashore. Now it’s Scarborough Beach. We’re working with them on that.

PBN: Their transmission line is proposed for state property now. You do expect that go through?
CHAFEE: Yes, I do. So any fears of blocking Deepwater Wind, at this point, are not accurate.
PBN: That is just one source of renewable energy. What’s your overall perspective?
CHAFEE: Here’s what is important: We have to make sure we start at a good foundation – climate change is real – it’s occurring. Human activity is responsible. A lot of carbon dioxide is generated from electricity power plants. Three of the sources are coal, oil and natural gas. A lot of people say natural gas is clean – it contributes to carbon-dioxide emissions.

PBN: Other people are promoting solar and wind. How did you get to be the leading Rhode Island proponent for hydro?
CHAFEE: When I heard Premier Charest say we have the chance to be the low-cost, green-energy capital of North America, I [had to] jump and say, ‘Sign me up.’ I want that. I want this region to boom like it used to. I recognize all the environmental ramifications of dams. I’m not that big of a cheerleader that I’m going to abandon my environmental roots, which are strong. I’ve been to Labrador to see the dams, about two years ago. Then I went back this year, in September, to Quebec.

PBN: What did you come away with?
CHAFEE: I wanted to see the environmental ramifications of these dams for myself, so I could be concerned or refute allegations. What I saw was fascinating. I was a little bit surprised. I always thought of dams as canyons. It’s very different up there. When you dam up a river, it floods a lot. It’s flat and they put dykes all around to keep it from spilling, this monster saucer of water. I saw the magnitude of the land, how vast it is and how empty. I got a look at how often they capture the same water, dam after dam after dam generating electricity. It’s unbelievable.

PBN: Do you think there’s potential for small hydropower projects?
CHAFEE: No, I don’t think so. There are some real issues. There are fish issues. We’re going in the other direction. We’re taking out dams in New England.

PBN: Some of the things you’re suggesting, buying hydropower from Canada and looking at the Maine wind project – this all sounds like taking money out of Rhode Island and people have a big problem with that.
CHAFEE: You have to have diversity. They have to bid on it. If they’re not cost-competitive, we won’t buy it. It’s pretty simple. I want low-cost, green energy for Rhode Islanders. •

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