PROVIDENCE – The George Wiley Center, a statewide energy justice and anti-poverty nonprofit organization, is backing proposed legislation that would cap energy bills for low-income residents in Rhode Island.
A House bill filed on Jan. 31 and referred to the House Corporations Committee reintroduces an effort from last year to institute a Percentage of Income Payment Plan, or PIPP, that would cap energy bills at 3% of household income for both gas and electricity consumers, and at 6% of household income for consumers with electrical heating, for residences with a household income at or below 150% of the federal poverty level, which currently sits at
$32,150 for a home with four people.
Rhode Island isn't the first to introduce such legislation. Eight other states have already adopted a PIPP program, including Colorado, Ohio, New Jersey, Maine, Illinois, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.
In fact, Rhode Island previously had a PIPP program decades ago for Warwick residents only that began in 1986, but it was discontinued in the late 1990s due to lack of support and funding, according to the R.I. Public Utilities Commission.
With utility rates continuing to rise, the George Wiley Center has renewed its push to get the proposed PIPP legislation passed.
“[In] recent years there have been multiple dramatic utility rate increases which increase dangerous utility shut offs,” George Wiley Center organizer Daisy Paz said in a statement, adding, the organization is encouraging the timely passage of bills that are "sound solutions to offset the impacts of inflation and utility company price gouging, while improving protections for [medically] vulnerable utility consumers."
The legislation addresses economically disadvantaged customers of Rhode Island Energy, the state’s largest gas and electricity utility. Rhode Island Energy's electricity rates increased in October 2024 after the R.I. Public Utilities Commission approved the company's new pricing proposal.
Camilo Viveiros, executive director and coordinator at the George Wiley Center, which has proposed a PIPP program and advocated for the passage of related legislation, told Providence Business News the time has long come for such a program in the Ocean State.
"We demand that they [Rhode Island Energy] value the health and wellbeing of utility consumers and affordability of rates for all utility consumers as much as they care about their profits," Viveiros said in an emailed statement to PBN. "The George Wiley Center has been winning social policy in the state of Rhode Island for over 40 years and our proposals, including a percentage income payment plan would help protect vulnerable people with medical conditions from dangerous shut offs and allow for more low income households and seniors on fixed incomes to afford their bills."
Rep. David Morales, D-Providence, who helped introduce this year's PIPP legislation, called access to utility services a “human right” during an energy affordability informational panel discussion that he and his colleagues held on Feb. 11 at the Statehouse.
“We know that everyone in our community should be entitled to have access to electricity services and gas services, especially in combination with the ongoing cost of living and all the different expenses that our neighbors have to account for,” Morales said during the panel discussion. “But we know we’re far from that reality. This is our call to action. We count on you to go to the Statehouse, be on the front lines and advocate for these changes. I think this will be the year that it passes."
Rep. Scott A. Slater, D-Providence, who introduced PIPP legislation in both 2023 and 2024, told the panel how crucial it is for his fellow legislators to hear from advocates in support of reduced utility charges for low-income individuals.
"It's extremely important for my colleagues and others that we hear from the public and advocates who spend year after year fighting for these important policies to help low-income individuals, especially when it comes to utilities," Slater said.
While Rhode Island Energy said it would support a PIPP program in Rhode Island, it raised concerns over cost-shifting and implementation following legislative efforts to pass a similar price-capping bill in 2024.
Nicholas Ucci, director of government affairs for Rhode Island Energy, said in an April 1, 2024, letter to the House Corporations Committee that RIE was committed to "working with policymakers, regulators and other valued stakeholders to explore viable policy and regulatory pathways that support energy affordability for all customers."
In order for the PIPP proposal to be successful, Ucci said, "It is important to consider any incremental programmatic and administrative costs and systems impacts that may be incurred and ensure alignment with other existing assistance efforts. Such an approach must be mindful not only of our most vulnerable customers, but of all other utility customers, too."
Ucci highlighted two factors that he said were critical to further consideration of the PIPP legislation. The first factor was that Rhode Island Energy was in the process of transitioning all its billing systems from the previous electricity and natural gas utility, National Grid PLC. On May 25, 2022, Pennsylvania-based PPL Corp. announced it had completed its acquisition of Narragansett Electric Co. from National Grid and renamed Narragansett Electric to Rhode Island Energy.
The second factor, Ucci said, was that the company intended to submit its next general rate filing to the PUC in 2026.
"It is critical that both factors be accommodated should this legislation advance," Ucci said. "Alignment with the company’s next rate case is particularly important such that Rhode Island Energy, state utility regulators, and other valued stakeholders can more holistically account for rate impacts, effects on other programs and investments, and other factors (e.g., administrative costs, necessary billing system changes, etc.)."
Despite Ucci's comments, Viveiros said he believes the PIPP legislation is well-positioned to pass into law this year.
"We have a committed majority of legislators who have told George Wiley Center members who are their constituents that they will vote for the PIPP bill," Viveiros said in the emailed statement to PBN.
The assembly, which began its winter recess on Feb. 17, is set to reconvene on Feb. 25.
"When we come back to the Statehouse in late February and going into March, we're going to extend the invitation through the George Wiley Center to make sure you are aware when PIPP is up for a hearing," Morales said at last week's panel discussion. "This collective energy that we have gathered today, we hope to see again in a few weeks."
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
