New report says R.I. will transition away from natural gas and oil heat

PROVIDENCE -- While the amount of electricity from solar, wind and other renewable energy sources coming into the Rhode Island power grid has steadily ramped up over the past decade, it’s been more difficult to switch heating systems in the state from fossil fuels because of the need for homes and business to invest in new equipment.

But in a 91-page report released on Thursday state agencies say that Rhode Island’s heating sector could be able to transition away from its reliance on natural gas and oil within the next three decades while still keeping consumers’ bills close to what they are today.

The report was written by The Brattle Group, a consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was done on behalf of the state Office of Energy Resources and the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers.

Governor Gina Raimondo, in an executive order last year, tasked the agencies with laying out a plan for decarbonizing the sector as part of the state’s larger effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in response to climate change. Heating accounts for 40 percent of total energy consumption in Rhode Island.

The report was submitted to the governor on Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. In a letter to Raimondo that accompanied the report, the heads of the state agencies acknowledge that transforming Rhode Island’s heating sector presents a host of challenges, including technological uncertainties and upfront costs, that seem “daunting” at a time when the economy has been shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.

But Nicholas Ucci, acting commissioner of the energy office, and Linda George, acting administrator of the utilities division, argue that steps can still be taken at relatively low cost.

“Now is not the time to pull back from mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening energy resiliency – such efforts strengthen our economy, not detract from it,” they write. “The response of our people, communities, and leadership to the COVID crisis has been incredible; it serves as an important reminder that Rhode Islanders can rise up to meet any challenge – even one as formidable as climate change.”

The analysis assumes that weatherization and other energy-efficiency investments would be made in virtually all buildings in Rhode Island. Doing so would reduce their energy consumption.

It also assumes that any transformation of the heating sector would largely mean electrifying it, meaning building heating systems that run on gas or oil now would in the future switch to heat pumps that would be fueled by electricity. The thinking goes that as the state’s electric grid continues to increase its reliance on renewables, it would also lead to a greener heating sector.

But the study does not single out any particular heating technology as a game-changer for the industry. Along with electric heat pumps, it also offers as an option using renewable fuels, such as those made from used cooking oil by companies like Newport Biodiesel.

The work to change how Rhode Island heats its homes and businesses comes amid larger changes to the state’s energy regime. The first offshore wind farm in the nation went into operation off Block Island more than three years ago. The state is following up on that 30-megawatt test project with an agreement with Orsted, the owner of the wind farm, for a second, 400-megawatt development.

In 2017, Raimondo targeted a 10-fold increase in the amount of clean energy in Rhode Island by 2020, from approximately 100 megawatts to 1,000. At the end of last year, the number stood at 866 megawatts with the contract factored in for the yet-to-built Orsted wind farm.

And just three months ago, the governor signed an order that aims to have all of Rhode Island’s electric supply come from renewable sources by the end of the decade.

akuffner@providencejournal.com

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