PROVIDENCE – A bill that would pave the way for an offshore wind farm cleared the R.I. Senate Tuesday and will likely come to a vote in the House Wednesday evening, a spokesman said.
The bill directs the R.I. Public Utilities Commission to approve or reject a proposed power purchase agreement between offshore wind farm developer Deepwater Wind and National Grid within 45 days. The commission rejected a proposed contract in April, saying the wholesale price of electricity at 24.4 cents a kilowatt-hour in the first year was too high.
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House spokesman Larry Berman said the House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources heard three hours of testimony Tuesday that stretched into the wee hours of Wednesday morning. The committee is expected to meet again Wednesday afternoon and recommend the full House pass the bill that evening, Berman said. House leaders have targeted Wednesday as the last day of the session.
The latest bill is the second introduced since the PUC decision that effectively sank any prospects of the wind farm proposed off the coast of Block Island. Initially, lawmakers put forward legislation that would place the power to approve a contract in the hands of four department heads instead of the PUC. Good government groups, R.I. Attorney General Patrick Lynch and environmental groups criticized the bill as an end-run around the PUC.
But the revised bill has also met with opposition. Lynch, also a Democratic candidate for governor, testified against the bill, and the Conservation Law Foundation released a statement condemning the latest legislation.
“Getting renewable energy projects up and running in Rhode Island is critical to our economy and achieving our state’s climate goals. However, it is just as important that we do it right,” foundation Vice President Tricia Jedele said. She said that while the amended bill makes “some important changes to the prior version, it still does not address CLF’s and other stakeholders’ concerns about the process needed to appropriately weigh renewable energy projects. Moreover, it has been rushed to a vote, without sufficient time or opportunity for public review and comment.”
Amy Kempe, a spokeswoman for Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, said the governor supports the latest legislation and had worked closely with lawmakers and other interested parties to craft it.
“We believe it addresses the concerns by those groups that originally opposed it,” Kempe said.
