Bill in Rhode Island Calls for Legislative Commission to Examine Public Power

A bill proposed in the Rhode Island General Assembly in January calls for the creation of a special legislative commission to study public ownership of utilities in the state.

The bill, H5161, calls for the commission to study and make recommendations on the following:

State-wide state, municipal or cooperative ownership of natural gas making, distribution, supply, purchase and sale, and electricity generation and distribution to commercial, industrial and residential customers in cities, suburban regions and rural areas;
Potential application in Rhode Island of the state of Nebraska’s “Neighbor’s First” model of public ownership by municipal utilities, electric cooperatives or public power districts; and
The performance of private utilities versus publicly-owned utilities.

The commission would also examine and make recommendations on the governance structure of public ownership of natural gas making, distribution, supply, purchase and sale, and electricity generation and distribution to commercial, industrial and residential customers throughout the state including, but not limited to:

Cost of infrastructure, including development of construction projects that benefit the state as a whole but are too big or too expensive for any one municipal or regional entity, such as geothermal power plants, offshore wind farms or “pumped storage” hydropower facilities that can bank electricity from solar or wind farms;
Cost savings to consumers;
Access to low cost debt;
Ability to facilitate rapid transition to one hundred percent renewable energy;
Access to new technology;
Productivity;
Union participation;
Service to large cities, suburban regions, densely populated rural areas and sparsely populated rural areas;
Profits from publicly-owned utilities that can be made available for cross subsidization for other public services, such as public transportation; and
The state as a shareholder of privately-owned electric companies and gas companies.