Better contracts for clean energy in Rhode Island.

• Position: Rhode Island - Brief article

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

CLF scored a major victory in the Rhode Island General Assembly when the Long-Term Contracting (LTC) bill for renewable energy passed by a veto-proof margin in the House and unanimously in the Senate. LTCs are crucially important to renewable energy developers because they are often necessary for the developers to obtain funding for their projects.

CLF had been pressing for long-term renewable energy contracts for several years, and this was one of CLF's major legislative priorities in Rhode Island. In 2005, CLF was instrumental to having the RI Public Utilities Commission make long-term contracts a requirement for utilities to meet the state's Renewable Energy Standard, which calls for 16 percent of electricity to be generated by renewables by 2020. But in 2006 and 2007, CLF was forced to litigate against National Grid when Grid's renewable energy procurement proposals did not include any LTCs. One year after litigating against Grid, CLF was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with...