Energy is intertwined with every part of our everyday lives, and realistic renewable energy goals are necessary for Rhode Island to keep the state and the planet thriving.
The University of Rhode Island’s first Plugged Into Energy Research (PIER) lecture of the year discussed the struggles that come with integrating solar energy and simultaneously maintaining economic and environmental interests on Nov. 3.
Kate Venturini, a program administrator for the URI Cooperative Extension, opened the lecture with a brief mention of the different sectors of energy—policy, research and environment—and how they intertwine with solar energy in Rhode Island.
The first speaker was Carrie Gill, an administrator of grid modernization and systems integration at the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources. Gill said the Act on Climate that Governor Daniel McKee signed into law in April while updating the previous 2014 law to have more firm greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals will get Rhode Island to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
In 2020, former Governor Gina Raimondo issued Executive Order 20-01, which tasked the Office of Energy Resources with analyzing ways to reach the 100 percent renewable electricity goal by 2030. This means all of Rhode Island’s electricity consumption for the year was offset 100 percent by production from renewable energy sources. This analysis considered four different renewable energy types: land-based, wind, offshore wind, wholesale solar and retail solar.
Going with 100 percent offshore wind was the cheapest option of the four and also maintained the benefits of having economic development and growing jobs in Rhode Island ports, along with resolving some of the issues renewable energy poses about land conservation.
Gill stressed that this isn’t a concrete plan, because leaving the plan up to the market to decide would result in choosing solely off of cost instead of the best result for every factor combined. This is especially true with the other energy types being close in costs, with offshore wind costing $1.9 billion, land-based wind costing $2 billion, wholesale solar costing $2.1 billion and retail solar costing $4.5 billion.
“We’re not presenting a centralized plan here,” said Gill. “We’re not saying ‘pick this technology over this other one.’ We’re saying ‘here are some trade-offs that you can look at, one of which is cost’ … Utility bill cost has to be something that we consider, but it cannot be the only thing that we consider.”
Corey Lang, an associate professor of environmental and natural resource economics at URI, presented some of his research from the last few years about the land impacts and concerns involved with renewable solar goals. Resident preferences about large-scale solar installations and their impacts on communities are often ignored, according to Lang, so he highlighted his research about preferences about the potential side effects of these “solar sprawls.”
“The objective of this research is not pro-solar, anti-solar, pro-developer, anti-developer,” Lang said. “We’re not trying to take a side. We’re just trying to bring all the voices to the table through serious economic research.”
One method of research was a survey of Rhode Island residents, which was distributed from fall 2019 through winter 2020. The research showed that solar energy is the most popular energy source with over 85 percent approval.
Priscilla de la Cruz, the senior director of government affairs for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, was the final speaker of the night. According to Cruz, the mission of the Audubon Society is to protect birds through conservation, education and advocacy, and currently, the biggest threat to both bird wildlife and humankind is the climate crisis.
She spoke about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report, which revealed that the climate crisis is unfolding more rapidly than anticipated.
“When I look at the science, and I look at the news I do like to focus, sort of, refocus myself in optimism,” Cruz said. “We know we can face the challenge, we know we have the solutions to ensure that the Ocean State is resilient in the face of the climate crisis.”
When asked about what college students work towards meeting Rhode Island climate goals, Cruz said that there are many ways to get involved.
“Reach out to Audubon,” she said. “Reach out to the Environment Council of Rhode Island and get involved with our climate crisis campaign.”