The Rhode Island Senate Thursday approved and sent to the House of Representatives the fourth and final piece of the Senate’s 2006 energy initiative. Three other bills making up the package were passed by the Senate last Wednesday.
Approved last Thursday was Senate bill 2006 – S2905Aaa, sponsored by Sen. William A. Walaska, D-Warwick, who introduced the other bills along with Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski, D-New Shoreham, South Kingstown.
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“The Gas and Electric System Reliability and Least-Cost Pricing Act of 2006,” as it is called, will establish principles of least-cost energy procurement and could help sustain the state’s long-term investment in energy efficiency.
The act 1) strengthens system reliability through diversification of energy resources for distributed generation and demand response and load management; 2) provides for least-cost procurement for gas and electric supply, which includes cost-effective energy efficiency and energy conservation measures; 3) extends through 2020 the aggregated purchasing for residential customers and commercial and industrial customers that are not served by the competitive market, and 4) establishes an open process with legislative oversight for implementation of the ongoing process.
The four bills that are part of the energy package are the direct result of findings and recommendations stemming from the Energy Summit held by the General Assembly late last year.
The other three bills – 2006 – S2903A, 2006 – S2904A and 2006 – S2906A – establish a long-term energy policy for the state and create an executive department-level Office of Energy Resources; help diversify the state’s energy supply portfolio and help fund and expand the assistance programs available to the state’s low-income households.
Walaska, chairman of the Senate Committee on Financial Services, Technology and Regulatory Issues and a joint chair of the 2005 Energy Summit with Sosnowski, said the summit “provided a wealth of information about energy supplies and costs, market and institutional structures and recommendations for action. What the recommendations showed is that while there are many challenges to be faced, there are things that can be done that can improve the prospects for Rhode Islanders. These four bills are things that we can and should do now to move our state toward a better posture in regard to energy acquisition and use.”
