PROVIDENCE - National Grid PLC has dropped its objection to signing long-term contracts with suppliers of renewable energy, a decision that advocates of wind farms say could unleash a flood of proposals in the state.

National Grid is the dominant energy provider in Rhode Island, and environmentalists have said its previous refusal to make long-term commitments to buy renewable energy has discouraged solar-, wave- and wind-energy projects.

Without a promised revenue source, the potential owners of wind farms have had difficulty raising money to build the infrastructure, according to Matt Auten, an advocate at the nonprofit group Environment Rhode Island.

"A lot of the cost of the project is up front," Auten said. "For developers, having a guaranteed income stream makes it easier for them to go out to investors."

The subject of long-term contracts has fueled a bitter dispute between National Grid, a British company headquartered in London, and regional environmental groups.

The state's Renewable Energy Standard law requires National Grid to gradually increase the percentage of energy it buys from renewable sources, and gives the Public Utilities Commission the power to pass rules to promote compliance.

Three advocacy groups - Environment Rhode Island, the Conservation Law Foundation and the Union of Concerned Scientists - have argued that rules later passed by the commission require National Grid to sign contracts lasting 10 years or longer.

The company has disputed that interpretation. Radically fluctuating energy prices, it argued, demand great flexibility in purchasing. "Anything longer than five years exceeds the threshold of speculation that a prudent purchasing plan should not cross," National Grid told state regulators.

The company was pummeled for its position, with environmentalists accusing it of trying to "skirt global warming standards."

"With the expected sea-level rise and temperature increases from climate change, it is utterly ridiculous that National Grid would try and ignore its responsibility to help curb global warming," Jerry Elmer, a Conservation Law Foundation staff attorney, said last March.

This month, National Grid abruptly changed its policy, and advocates are now praising their onetime nemesis.

"I think it's an incredibly great development for the state," said Cynthia Giles, director of the Conservation Law Foundation's Rhode Island Advocacy Center. "This is a big deal in encouraging private developers to come into the state."

Full Story: http://www.projo.com/news/content/BZ_RENEWABLE_ENERGY
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