Reducing Energy Costs and Improving Transparency For Ratepayers

WHEREAS, ensuring affordability—particularly the ability of Rhode Islanders to afford their utility bills—is a central priority of my Administration; and    

WHEREAS, my Administration is advancing a ratepayer relief budget article to address rising electricity costs, projected to save utility ratepayers approximately $151 million in 2027 and over $1 billion over the next five years; and 

WHEREAS, Rhode Island’s net metering program has grown by more than 250 percent over the past five years, with the full cost borne by electric ratepayers, necessitating such a review to ensure affordability and sustainability; and 

WHEREAS, recent actions by the Trump Administration have materially altered the federal energy and climate policy landscape, including the rollback or termination of clean-energy tax credits, grants, and regulatory authorities that were foundational to earlier state planning and cost assumptions; and

WHEREAS, these federal actions—including the elimination of Inflation Reduction Act clean-energy incentives, the termination of consumer electric-vehicle tax credits, and deliberate efforts to stall offshore wind permitting—have increased the cost of developing new clean-energy resources, constrained regional supply, and introduced regulatory uncertainty that deters private investment; and

WHEREAS, the elimination of federal investment and production tax credits, together with the blocking of new offshore wind projects, has increased the cost of renewable generation and tightened the regional supply of Renewable Energy Certificates, raising compliance costs under the State’s Renewable Energy Standard and placing upward pressure on electricity rates for Rhode Island households and businesses; and 

WHEREAS, these rising costs directly undermine energy affordability and threaten progress toward emissions-reduction goals, as higher electricity prices discourage household electrification, and slow the adoption of clean-energy technologies necessary to achieve the State’s articulated long-term climate targets; and

WHEREAS, maintaining electric rate affordability and accelerating the deployment of cost-effective clean-energy projects are essential to preserving economic competitiveness, protecting Rhode Island families, and strengthening a credible and achievable pathway to decarbonization;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DANIEL J. McKEE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Rhode Island, pursuant to Article IX of the Rhode Island Constitution and the Rhode Island General Laws, including, but not limited to, Title 30, Chapter 15, do hereby order and direct the following:

1. The Office of Energy Resources (OER), in consultation with the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers (DPUC), the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the electric and gas distribution companies, and such additional stakeholders as OER deems appropriate, including representatives of labor, residential and commercial solar developers, and consumer interests, shall conduct a comprehensive review of the State’s Net Metering Program (behind-the-meter and virtual) and Renewable Energy Growth Program. The purpose of this review is to control costs to electric ratepayers and ensure that these programs do not impose an undue or disproportionate financial burden on households and businesses, while remaining aligned with the State’s emissions-reduction objectives. The review shall evaluate ratepayer impacts, state fiscal implications, and energy-system effects, and shall assess potential program modifications as appropriate.

   1. As part of this effort, OER shall submit supplemental budget article amendment options related to the State’s virtual net metering program to the Governor’s Office and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) no later than April 24, 2026. These options shall be designed to maintain ratepayer savings for households and businesses while updating the structure of the virtual net metering program. In developing these options, OER shall seek to avoid adverse impacts on existing solar projects and shall evaluate approaches used by peer states to maintain more cost-effective solar incentive programs. Any proposed supplemental budget article amendments shall be transmitted to the House and Senate Finance Committees no later than May 1, 2026.

   2. In addition, OER, in consultation with participating state agencies, shall complete a longer-term review of behind-the-meter net metering and the Renewable Energy Growth Program and deliver the results of that review—including key findings and potential policy and legislative options—to the Governor’s Office and  OMB no later than October 1, 2026, aligned with the development and submission of agency budget proposals for the subsequent fiscal year. In conducting this review, OER and participating state agencies shall be advised by Dr. Noah Kaufman, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy or other outside experts.

2. The DPUC shall evaluate and communicate the anticipated ratepayer impacts of all significant energy legislation under consideration by the General Assembly to ensure that policy makers, stakeholders, and the public have a clear and timely understanding of the potential effects of such proposals on utility rates, customer bills, and overall energy affordability. As part of this process, the DPUC shall determine which proposed energy legislation is sufficiently broad in scope, material in potential ratepayer impact, or sufficiently advanced in the legislative process to warrant the preparation of an official Ratepayer Impact Note. As part of this process, the DPUC shall: 

   1. Develop an internal framework for preparing Ratepayer Impact Notes, that, to the extent practicable, assess expected impacts on electric and gas rates and typical customer bills, identify the duration of such impacts, describe key assumptions and uncertainties, and discuss the impacts across customer classes (where feasible), with particular attention to overall affordability.

   2. Establish a legislative notification and coordination process to ensure that Ratepayer Impact Notes are made available to the General Assembly, including legislative leadership and relevant committees, in a timely manner to properly inform legislative deliberations on significant energy proposals.

   3. Establish a process to make available on its agency website plain-language impact summaries of such considered legislative proposals, with the goal of enabling every Rhode Island ratepayer to understand how proposed energy policies may affect utility bills and the cost of living.

This Order shall take effect immediately upon the date hereof. 

So Ordered:

Daniel J. McKee
Governor