With the next New England winter approaching slowly – but steadily – Rhode Islanders face a potential 15% spike in energy costs in the season starting Oct. 1, the utility Rhode Island Energy said Thursday.
A few hours later, Gov. Dan McKee signed an executive order, pending approval by the state Public Utilities Commission, that would use $28 million in Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative credits to offset the increase for most ratepayers. The RGGI is a multi-state cooperative effort to cut contributors to global warming.
“Every residential electric customer will receive about $61 in bill credits,” McKee said during a news conference at the United Way of Rhode Island in the Olneyville section of Providence. “For the average ratepayer, these credits will fully offset the increase during winter months when bills are the highest.”
The proposed rates are expected to receive approval from the state Public Utilities Commission.
McKee said Rhode Island has the fourth-highest electricity rates in the nation and there’s little doubt the issue is urgent for many residents.
United Way CEO Cortney Nicolato said calls to the nonprofit agency’s energy-assistance line have more than tripled year over year.
“Those calls and requests represent Rhode Islanders facing shutoff notices, past-due balances and the impossible decisions about whether they pay for electricity, groceries, medicine, housing or transportation,” Nicolato said.
At the same time, there is a political subtext to McKee’s advocacy on the issue of energy costs: he faces a steep uphill fight, according to most polls, in his Democratic primary race with challenger Helena Foulkes in a primary ending Sept. 9.
Speaking in front of television cameras, McKee blamed the General Assembly for cutting back a plan in his budget to reduce energy costs by $1 billion over five years. He faulted President Trump for raising gas costs through the war in Iran. And the governor, 74, said he has a track record of fighting for lower utility costs going back to when he was mayor of Cumberland.
McKee called at least three times for Rhode Islanders to call state lawmakers and regulators to urge support for his plan to offset the increase in energy costs.
“Right now, is the time to take action,” he said. “Call your reps, your senators, the PUC to follow the lead that we’re providing today to lower the cost for the families that live in the state of Rhode Island.”
Foulkes’ campaign spokeswoman, Angelika Pellegrino, said in a statement that McKee hasn’t done enough on the issue since inheriting the governor’s office in 2021.
“After two terms with Dan McKee as their governor, Rhode Islanders have been left with soaring energy costs,” she said. “No election-year stunts will change what that has done to the family budget.”
Ahead of McKee’s announcement, Rhode Island Energy encouraged customers to take advantage of bill-assistance and energy-savings programs ahead of the next winter.
Rhode Island Energy President Greg Cornett acknowledged the proposed rate hike will challenge customers, but said they reflect increased costs faced by the utility.
“This is not a rate that we set. It’s just simply the cost of the energy that we buy that gets passed directly to customers, dollar for dollar, penny for penny,” Cornett said. “The reality is that the power that we’ve been able to get under contract for this upcoming winter is more expensive than it was last winter.”
New requirements by the regional grid operator, state-mandated renewable energy requirements and the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iran have all contributed to rising costs.
“What New England doesn’t have,” Cornett said, “is it does not have its own abundant natural resources to be able to generate electricity, with the exception of offshore wind. But that’s been stalled.”
This story has been updated with additional information from Rhode Island Energy President Greg Cornett.
