You May Be Getting a New Electricity Co - What You Need to Know
Monday, March 06, 2023
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley is pushing the new program forward, and the supplier NextEra has been a major supporter of Gov. DeSantis. (R-FL)
They are getting "opted-in" automatically, and they can opt-out.
GoLocal breaks down how a series of consultants designed this program and were empowered to select the electricity provider with no approval from elected officials or the public.
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Which Communities Are Included?
Barrington, Central Falls, Narragansett, Newport, Portsmouth, Providence, and South Kingstown are part of the program.
Who Is In the Program?
All residential and business electricity customers currently using Rhode Island Energy’s Last Resort Service will be automatically switched in the new Community Electricity Program’s standard electricity option as of their May 2023 meter read date.
Functionally, the vast majority of business and residential customers are getting switched over.
Will Rates Be Higher or Lower?
In the very short term, the program's rates will be lower — but that may or may not last. These initial rates are only good for six-months.
Rhode Island Energy issued a press release on Thursday announcing they are cutting their rates lower as of April 1.
New supply rates proposed to RIPUC, "Rhode Island Energy’s Last Resort Service Base Charge for the upcoming summer season, if approved, will be 9.125¢/kWh for residential customers, down from the winter rate of 17.149¢/kWh. The total supply charge for residential customers, to use if shopping for alternative electric supply options, is projected to be 10.341 ¢/kWh. For small business customers, the proposed rate is 8.789¢/kWh, down from the winter rate of 16.683¢/kWh. These rates reflect the base portion of the supply rate."
Rates Are Only Locked for 6 Months
The electricity rates for the new program will be fixed over an initial six-month period from May 2023 through November 2023.
In the short-term there will be savings. Then, pricing will be reset.
How Did This Happen With Virtually No Public Process?
The Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation enabling these types of alternative energy providers. Then, much of the activity took place at the Public Utility Commission with little media or public attention.
Who Is Providing the Energy to Rhode Islanders in the 7 Communities?
The company providing the energy is a subsidiary of a controversial Florida energy giant NextEra.
NextEra has created six limited liability corporations in Rhode Island.
NextEra has been in the national and global news. The company has been a major funder of Republican candidates in Florida and in DC. The company has provided more than $127,000 to election deniers in Congress, according to ProPublica.
The London media company, the Guardian, published a major investigative piece about NextEra’s subsidiary, Florida Power & Light.
In July 2022, the Guardian published a major expose´ titled, “Leaked: US power companies secretly spending millions to protect profits and fight clean energy.”
The investigation uncovered a range of damning communications:
"The CEO of the biggest power company in the US had a problem. A Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) profits. Landlords would be able to sell cheap rooftop solar power directly to their tenants – bypassing FPL and its monopoly on electricity.
“I want you to make his life a living hell … seriously,” FPL’s CEO Eric Silagy wrote in a 2019 email to two of his vice-presidents about state Senator José Javier Rodríguez, who proposed the legislation.
Within minutes, one of them forwarded the directive to the CEO of Matrix, LLC, a powerful but little-known political consulting firm that has operated behind the scenes in at least eight states.
Rodríguez was ousted from office in the next election. Matrix employees spent heavily on political advertisements for a candidate with the same last name as Rodríguez, who split the vote. That candidate later admitted he was bribed to run.
Hundreds of pages of internal documents – which are only coming to light now because Matrix’s founders are locked in an epic feud – detail the firm’s secret work to help power companies like FPL protect their profits and fight the transition to cleaner forms of energy.
As a result of that report and other investigations, Silagy and the company have been tied to allegations of campaign finance violations, media manipulation, and the surveillance of critical journalists. Silagy, CEO since 2014, will depart the company in April.
Members of Providence Mayor Brett Smiley's staff admitted in a phone interview they knew little about NextEra or its history. And then, in a statement, the Smiley administration defended NextEra -- company and its subsidiaries that have been fined more than $30 million for federal and state violations.
"The City has contracted Good Energy, who has chosen NextEra Energy Services RI, LLC, a separate company from NextEra Energy Inc., as the electricity supplier. We are unaware of any fines that have been issued to NextEra Energy RI, LLC. However, the Mayor expects any vendor that works with the City to follow regulations meant to keep people safe," said the Smiley administration.
Newport Mayor Xaykham “Xay” Khamsyvoravong and Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera refused to respond to questions about the selection of NextEra.
Who Selected NextEra?
A national energy consulting firm named Good Energy selected NextEra. Good Energy is headquartered in New York City.
If a Consumer or Business Wants to Opt-Out?
It is unclear. A number of the city and town websites fail to provide information on how to opt-out.
Providence's site does provide a link. And Providence site states that if you opt-out, then you may face a higher cost if you try to opt back in, "Note: you may re-join Providence Community Electricity at a later date, however, the supplier may offer you a price that reflects market conditions, rather than the price shown on this website."
Will There be Public Hearing?
Newport's website states, "Newport will hold public meetings for you to learn more about the Program. Check back for updates!"
Central Falls, another city that is included in the program, has nothing on its city's website.
NextEra has refused to respond to questions.
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