City Council President to ask Legislative Help for RI Energy Bills

City Council President Bob Rodericks will urge his colleagues at the March 4, 2025 council meeting, to approve a letter to local General Assembly members requesting intervention with RI Energy's high energy costs. Constituents have reported significantly higher bills, sometimes double or more from previous months. Rodericks stresses the need for the City Council to advocate on this issue, asking state representatives and senators to support legislation urging the RI Public Utilities Commission to lower the allowed profit cap.

RI Energy's parent company, PPL Corp., reported $888 million in profits for 2024, a 20% increase over the prior year. Rhode Island law caps utility providers' revenue from gas and electric operations at 9.275% per year, with excess returned to ratepayers.

Rodericks acknowledges that RI Energy needs to maintain its grid system but argues that their profit margin should better reflect consumers' ability to handle large increases in energy costs.

An Explanation of Energy Costs from RI Energy:
“Colder Temps and More Energy Use Equal Higher Winter Bills.  The winter has brought very cold temperatures, with a record 3-day cold stretch in January that led to the highest energy demand on our system since 2019.  This means heating systems, water heaters and air circulation systems are working harder and using more energy. Additionally, many people are relying on space heaters, electric blankets and electric powered snow removal devices to get through the cold and snow.  As a result, you likely have noticed higher bills due to increased energy usage.

How does higher energy use impact the delivery side of the bill?  The delivery charge is grouped into two parts. While our base delivery rate has not changed since 2018, using more energy does impact the delivery portion of your bill. Let us explain why that is.  We manage the first part which includes the cost to get electricity to your home and these charges include the following:

• The Customer Charge is a fixed fee for meter reading, billing and customer service.
• The Distribution Energy Charge is the cost of delivering energy from our distribution system to your home and is calculated by the amount of energy you use.
• The Transmission Charge is the cost of moving electricity from power plants to our distribution system and is also calculated by the amount of energy you use. It is approved by the state and regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
• The second part of the delivery charge is the mandated public policy programs which make up about 18% of the delivery portion of your bill and two of these charges (Renewable Energy Dist Chg and Energy Efficiency Programs) are calculated by the amount of energy you use. Here’s a breakdown of those charges:

The RE Growth Program Charge and the Renewable Energy Distribution Charge both fund renewable energy sources and programs.  The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides financial assistance to eligible customers to help with energy costs. The Energy Efficiency Programs Charge funds rebates and incentives to help customers save energy and lower their bills.

Explaining the supply side of RI Energy Billing:
Supply is the cost of the electricity you use changing every April and October, with prices generally lower in April and higher in October due to market conditions.  We don’t own power plants or control the cost of your electricity supply. You have the option to shop for your own supplier, but if you don’t shop, we are required to shop for you and this is known as our Last Resort Service price, which is listed on the bill so you can compare this price with other suppliers. Regardless of who you choose, we pass these supply costs through without any markup or profit as required by law. We understand energy costs can be confusing and we’re here to help. For more details on how to read your bill visit  RIEnergy.com/BillHelp.” – RI Energy