Energy costs in Rhode Island – TEST

Energy costs in Rhode Island are skyrocketing, concerns over jobs and dollars leaving the economy are growing, and National Grid has just proposed a merger with New England Gas to create a mega-utility that would dominate Rhode Island’s market, with over $1 billion in annual revenue.
Now the billion-dollar question that every business and consumer should be asking is not just what Rhode Island should do about rising energy costs, but also what the impact of the proposed National Grid–New England Gas merger on Rhode Island’s energy crisis will be.
What can the state do about rising energy costs?
For the past few months, an informal group of energy experts and organizations representing commercial, industrial, institutional and residential energy consumers have been meeting to answer this question. The results have been promising and resulted in a new coalition that collectively represents the interests of 75,000 workers and consumers called POWER (Protect Our Workers, Economy, Resources).
The conclusions of the POWER coalition are that in order to minimize energy costs Rhode Island should adopt policies that will result in: less uneconomic energy use; more energy efficiency across the board, but particularly for low-income households where a dollar invested today can save many tax-payer dollars in the years ahead; a more diversified, least-cost approach to meeting our energy needs by using efficiency, renewable energy and distributed generation; a higher load factor; and increased public participation in energy planning and decision making that affect rate-payers. Modeling has shown that the results would significantly reduce energy costs.
Of course, forming good policy solutions to lower energy costs is only half the battle, since policy solutions must move through the legislative and regulatory processes before they produce results.
What will the state do about rising energy costs?
The good news for Rhode Islanders is that all of the top brass at the General Assembly have made reducing energy costs a top legislative priority, and they are actively working on the issue. In addition, legislation is being introduced in the near future that may embody all of the cost-cutting principles that the POWER coalition has identified.
However, when rubber hits the road at the Assembly, the going often gets tough. Consequently it will be necessary for a broad array of interests including the business community, labor unions, senior groups and low-income advocates to endorse legislation that will have demonstrable benefits for all energy consumers.
How would the proposed National Grid–New England Gas merger affect the cost of energy?
The proposed merger between National Grid and New England Gas is a wild card in Rhode Island’s efforts to reduce energy costs. It also raises a number of concerns.
Without access to a public filing, it is difficult to answer even the most basic questions about the proposed merger, but if the sale is to proceed two basic conditions must be met.
First and foremost, the deal must make sense for energy consumers in Rhode Island, meaning their energy costs will be less than if the merger did not happen. And second, regulators and the public must be fully confident that the Public Utilities Commission, and any other relevant regulatory body, has the authority and independence it needs to shine a bright light into dark corners.
National Grid has an outstanding and well-deserved reputation, but too much power in one set of hands can also lead the well-intentioned astray without adequate checks and balances.
How will Rhode Island answer these billion-dollar questions?
How Rhode Island responds to rising energy costs depends on leadership from the General Assembly and Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, as well as the courage of the Public Utilities Commission and Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch to extract the best deal for consumers out of the proposed merger, even if that means opposing it.