As Rhode Island receives millions in federal stimulus money for energy projects, faces potentially higher prices for electricity and prepares for an offshore wind farm, state government’s top energy post remains vacant.
Nearly two months after the commissioner of the R.I. Office of Energy Resources resigned, officials in the governor’s office are mulling whether to fill the position, move it to another department or fold it into an existing job.
Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s spokeswoman, Amy Kempe, said that the absence of someone at the helm in the wake of Andrew Dzykewicz’s July resignation has not slowed energy-policy work.
“Andy put us in a great position, but at the same time we have a number of other great people that have been able to pick up the ball and run it,” Kempe said.
Others are not so sure. Alteris Renewables Wind Business President Bob Chew said it appeared an odd time not to install a leader. Private developer Deepwater Wind is proposing two wind farms off the coast of Rhode Island, National Grid is asking permission to raise its electric rates and stimulus money is arriving.
“It’s at a very critical time with stimulus money,” Chew said. “If there’s ever a time when we needed leadership it is right now. Having a void at the upper level is an area of major concern.”
The state is slated to receive about $54 million in money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with most of it flowing through the state energy office. Ronald Renaud, executive director of the R.I. Department of Administration, said the state is readying to release the first pool of money, $23.9 million, within the next few weeks. Renaud, who has been overseeing the energy office, said the state plans to release 12 to 15 requests for proposals this week. Those requests will solicit residential and commercial renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects.
Renaud said the state is also in the process of handing out $10 million of the $20 million slated for weatherization initiatives to community-action programs. It also expects this month to start soliciting proposals for the roughly $5 million in the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. (Another $5 million in the program went directly from the federal government to the state’s largest cities.)
“We’re going to move,” Renaud said. “The primary goal is jobs and energy efficiencies and with that in mind we’re going to do everything to expedite the process.”
Still, the speed is not fast enough for Eric Offenberg, a principal at SGE Corp., a company specializing in renewable energy. Offenberg said the scattered nature of energy programs makes it difficult for businesses to find information and creates cracks in a comprehensive state energy policy. Offenberg said the state is costing businesses thousands of dollars by not releasing stimulus money faster.
“I just don’t think they see the sense of urgency,” he said. “I think we’re missing a real opportunity to help struggling businesses in the state.”
Kempe said the federal money comes with strings attached and the office is working quickly to distribute it.
The energy office has gone through various incarnations over the years as Carcieri sought to make energy a focus of his agenda. In January 2006 he rechristened the R.I. Energy Office as the R.I. Office of Energy Resources and appointed Dzykewicz as his “chief energy adviser.”
Before his departure, Dzykewicz had been the state’s point person for offshore wind farms, a centerpiece of Carcieri’s goal to draw more of the state’s electricity from renewable energy sources. His office also oversaw the administration of assistance programs such as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Kempe said the intersection between policy decisions regarding projects such as wind farms and the day-to-day program administration led senior officials to reconsider the management structure after Dzykewicz left.
“First and foremost the department needs to take a look at ways to consolidate and streamline,” she said.
Kempe said no decisions had been made as to whether the commissioner’s position, or some new replacement position, would be filled in light of the tight state budget.
“If there is a position that is deemed critical then that position will be given consideration,” she said.
The responsibilities of the office have also changed. In July 2008 the General Assembly moved control over the Renewable Energy Fund to the R.I. Economic Development Corporation in a switch that Offenberg and Chew said appears to be working well. Meanwhile the General Assembly has played an increasing role in the development of offshore wind farms. •
