One of the top priorities for RI environment advocates may be on hold this session. Here's why.
PROVIDENCE – Legislation that will put Rhode Island on the path to reducing carbon emissions from heating buildings is set to move forward in the Senate, but is still on hold in the House.
The Senate Committee on Environment and Agriculture is scheduled to vote Tuesday on legislation that would require new buildings to be constructed so that they’re ready to switch from furnaces that burn fossil fuels to electric heat pumps. If the bill clears the committee, it would go to a floor vote before the full Senate.
Heating homes, businesses and industrial buildings is responsible for more than a third of Rhode Island’s planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, yet, unlike with transportation or electric consumption, the state hasn’t taken action on regulations that would support a transition to cleaner alternatives.
Sen. Meghan Kallman, the Pawtucket Democrat who is one of the lead sponsors of the bill, said that without a plan to decarbonize buildings, the state would fail to meet the mandates of the Act on Climate, the landmark state law that requires Rhode Island to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
“This is one of the biggest levers we have when it comes to meeting our climate goals,” she said.
More: Where can you charge your electric vehicle in Rhode Island? Here's a map.
Bill still in the works in the House
Rep. Rebecca Kislak, the Providence Democrat who introduced the bill in the House, said she’s hoping it will be scheduled for a committee vote in her chamber sometime next week.
She said that she and Kallman have been busy trying to address some 11th-hour concerns that hadn’t been raised earlier about what the legislation would require.
The amended version going before the Senate environment committee omits mandates for the construction of all-electric buildings that were in the original bill.
Instead, it requires buildings only to have systems in place to facilitate a future retrofit to electric heat pumps.
“The bill doesn’t provide the solutions, but it creates a roadmap to get us there,” Kislak said of the new language.
A spokesman for Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said the bill is still under consideration in the House.
“Speaker Shekarchi has been speaking with legislators, stakeholders and impacted parties on all sides of the issue and is listening to their concerns before taking a position,” Larry Berman said.
A priority of environmental groups
The Environment Council of Rhode Island, which represents more than 60 organizations in the state, including Save The Bay, The Nature Conservancy and the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, listed the bill among its three legislative priorities this year.
The state Department of Environmental Management and the Office of Energy Resources have said they are willing to work with the bill sponsors on decarbonizing the heating sector.
The vast majority of homes in Rhode Island rely on fossil fuels for heating, with about half using natural gas, a quarter using heating oil and 5% using propane.
Switching buildings from those heating systems has been difficult because it requires owners to purchase heat pumps in place of their furnaces. Costs can range from a few thousand dollars to more than $20,000 if new ductwork or other improvements are needed.
The state has gotten millions of federal dollars so far to help defray those costs and is expected to get more money from Washington in the future.
Kallman said the state can’t afford to wait another year on the legislation.
“All the evidence we have shows that if we do it now, it will be much easier than doing it later,” she said.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI bill would pave the way for new buildings to switch to electric heat
