Following the passage of the virtual net metering legislation this week, I reached out to the Portsmouth Economic Development Committee (PEDC) to get their perspective on the impact for Portsmouth's wind turbine project. The bill will give municipalities producing 'green' energy a better payback on the excess power they feed back to the grid. Of course this is still pending signature by the Governor, but sources I spoke with in the General Assembly sounded confident that would happen.

Rich Talipsky, PEDC Chair, said, "We are delighted that the RI legislature has approved the 'municipal net metering' bill and look forward to this becoming part of the Public Utility Commission’s regulations in 2009. This legislation will allow us to recognize full value for all the renewable energy generated by Portsmouth's wind turbine generator and make an already positive revenue return even better. The legislation allows the PUC to enact regulations so that the entire town's municipal electric load to become a 'virtual electric meter'. Under the existing regulations, only that electric load consumed behind a single town electric meter could be counted for full value."

Gary Gump, Chair of the PEDC's Sustainable Energy Subcommittee added, "This shows that the RI Assembly leadership is really getting serious about renewable energy by bringing all the energy providers to the table. We can make some real progress in helping RI towns reduce their reliance on fossil fuels while reducing the town’s energy costs. We hope to significantly reduce Portsmouth's 'carbon footprint' with our project and do our small part in helping the State realize their clean energy goal."

Bet we're going to see a few other cash-strapped RI towns start to think seriously about alternative energy now. Kudos to the PEDC for getting us out in front of the curve. Great job, guys!