The proposal, scheduled for a vote June 9 in the Senate, would allow Rhode Island Energy to build or own power plants and shift financial risk from shareholders to Rhode Islanders. Photo: Shutterstock
June 5, 2026 (Providence, RI) – Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is calling on Rhode Island lawmakers to halt an eleventh-hour approval of a sweeping change in state energy policy and instead conduct a thorough, transparent review of a proposed bill that will allow utilities to own power plants. The proposal reverses a 30-year ban and will have major implications for families and businesses.
“If the General Assembly is going to overturn a decades-old public policy, it owes Rhode Islanders an open, transparent, and accountable process,” said Darrèll Brown, CLF vice president for Rhode Island. “Instead, lawmakers are being asked to rubber-stamp a fundamental restructuring of our electric system in the final days of the legislative session with virtually no public scrutiny. Rushing this through at the eleventh hour isn’t just bad policy-making, it raises serious questions about whose interests are being served. Rhode Islanders deserve transparency, not haphazard legislation that leaves families and businesses on the hook for expensive power plants.”
The proposal, scheduled for a vote June 9 in the Senate, would allow Rhode Island Energy to build or own power plants and shift financial risk from shareholders to Rhode Islanders. Rhode Island Energy customers could ultimately pay the price for costly power plant investments.
Since 1996, Rhode Island has prohibited utilities from owning power plants. The bill would reverse nearly three decades of policy without a comprehensive review by a legislative study commission, the Public Utility Commission, or other state entity to consider whether the current framework remains effective or whether utility ownership would improve affordability or reliability, or help the state meet clean energy requirements.
Rhode Island’s lawmakers should allow for a full public review that allows regulators, consumer advocates, environmental stakeholders, energy experts, and the public to adequately evaluate the proposal and its potential consequences for the state’s energy future.
CLF experts are available for further comment.
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