As spring emerges and Rhode Islanders shake off winter, the Rhode Island General Assembly legislation session starts to buzz. After a winter when the famed Blizzard of ’78’s snowfall record fell, the legislature is sprouting proposals for changes to the state’s renewable energy programs, reforming the Coastal Resources Management Council, considering a climate superfund law, and addressing waste issues. While many of these proposals may never become law, some are nonetheless driving significant debate at the statehouse. This blog provides a brief overview of some of the noteworthy energy and environmental issues up for consideration this year.
Renewable Energy in Governor McKee’s Proposed Budget
Renewable Energy Standard
Among a handful of changes to existing renewable energy programs within Governor Dan McKee’s proposed budget for FY2027 is a pruning of the state’s Renewable Energy Standard. The current Renewable Energy Standard, § 39-26-4, provides for the increasing procurement of renewable energy by the state’s electricity distributors until 100% of the state’s electricity is obtained from renewable sources in 2033. The proposed budget would push out the 100% deadline to 2050 and shift the requirement from purely renewable energy to include other forms of zero-emission energy.[1] By shifting to include zero-emission energy, the proposed budget would allow both nuclear and large-scale hydroelectric energy under the Renewable Energy Standard.[2]
Net-Metering Fees and Rate Freeze
As part of the Governor’s “affordability agenda,” the budget proposal also includes changes to the state’s net-metering program by adding a “grid access fee” assessed to net-metering systems of at least one megawatt capacity and freezing the net-metering credit at the rate calculated and in effect on July 1, 2026.[3]
Energy Efficiency Charge
Lastly, the proposed budget includes a cap on the state’s energy efficiency plan and extends the planning horizon by shifting the efficiency program from an annual plan to a three-year plan.[4] The budget proposal both caps the charge for energy efficiency programs that is direct billed to customers at $75 million per year and then limits how much that cost can go up in the subsequent three-year plan.
Renewable Energy Rollbacks
Governor McKee’s proposed budget is not the only pending legislation that seeks to alter the state’s renewable energy landscape. A competing suite of proposed legislation seeks to end many of the state’s renewable and energy efficiency programs. Among the proposals are the elimination of the energy efficiency charge on customer bills that is used to fund energy efficiency programs, the repeal of the state’s Renewable Energy Growth Program, and the elimination of the state’s net-metering program.[5] Other proposals would instead place a five-year moratorium on the Renewable Energy Growth and energy efficiency program charges on customer bills.[6]
Coastal Resource Management Council (CRMC) Reform Proposal
Another year brings another CRMC reform proposal.[7] As with prior efforts at reform, this year’s proposal seeks, once again, to combine CRMC with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), and to establish within DEM a Division of Coastal Resources and a Bureau of Coastal Resources Management.[8]
Within that structure, the proposed legislation would also create a community advisory board made up of ten members appointed by the governor: six members representing local governments and four members of the public.[9] Unlike the reforms enacted last year, which reduced CRMC from 10 members to 7 and eliminated the requirement that the governmental members of the committee hail from both large and small municipalities, this year’s proposed legislation would require the local government members on the community advisory board to be from both small and large municipalities, requires that three of the six be from coastal communities, and that one member be from either Washington or Newport county.[10]
As to the four members of the public, the legislation would require all four to have expertise in coastal policy, reside in, or represent indigenous or environmental justice communities, and that two of the four must reside in a coastal community. This is also a change from the 2025 reforms which required all appointees to the council to “possess background, qualifications and expertise in environmental and coastal management matters,” and specified that at least one appointee be an engineer, one be a coastal biologist, and one be a representative of an environmental organization.[11]
Otherwise, the 2026 proposal transfers all of the functions, duties, and responsibilities of CRMC into the newly created Bureau of Coastal Resources Management within DEM.[12]
Rhode Island Climate Superfund Act
For the second year running, the General Assembly is considering a climate superfund law, modeled after laws previously passed in Vermont and New York.[13] The Rhode Island Climate Superfund Act is designed to hold major producers of greenhouse gasses responsible for the state’s costs to adjust to climate change. If passed, the law would provide a path for DEM to identify projects that would insulate the state from the impacts of climate change and allow DEM to recover the costs of those projects from entities that produced fossil fuels and generated more than one billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2025.[14]
The proposed Rhode Island Climate Superfund Act would require DEM to identify climate change response work eligible for cost recovery, then determine which companies are responsible for contributing to the cost recovery, calculate the proportional cost recovery amount per company, and issue demands for cost recovery.[15] Eligible work under the law would include projects deemed necessary to protect people, property, natural resources, public health, and the state’s economy from the impacts of climate change.
Many states have introduced similar legislation over the last few years as they seek to adapt to climate change with limited state budgets. Vermont and New York are the only states that have passed climate superfund acts and since the passage of those laws in 2024, multiple groups, along with the Trump Administration, have filed suit challenging them in court.[16] The challenges to the Vermont and New York laws argue myriad issues, including that the state actions are preempted by federal law or violate the constitution under multiple grounds. At this time, the lawsuits are awaiting judicial rulings on summary judgment filings and Rhode Island’s proposed version of the law remains held in committee for further study.
Sludge Study and Pyrolysis Paralysis
Plans to develop a pyrolysis plant in North Kingstown and the pending closure of an existing sewage incinerator in Woonsocket are spurring debate about what to do with the solid waste byproduct of the state’s wastewater treatment plants.[17] The General Assembly is now considering legislation to establish a special joint commission to study the state’s sewage sludge problem and legislation to limit the placement of a pyrolysis plant that would thermally decompose sewage sludge and other waste.[18]
The proposal for the sludge study joint commission, which has already been passed by the House and is scheduled for consideration in the Senate, would create a 19-member panel to examine the challenges of managing the waste from the state’s 19 wastewater treatment facilities.[19] In addition, opposition to a proposed pyrolysis plant in North Kingstown has spurred the legislature to consider restricting placement of a facility to treat sewage sludge, by prohibiting DEM from permitting any pyrolysis plant from being located within one mile of a k-12 school.[20]
How AP&S Can Help
Proposed legislation can present new opportunities or bring challenges to existing operations. At AP&S, we help clients navigate complex energy and environmental issues, providing the legal and strategic guidance needed to manage the shifting legal and regulatory landscape.
[1] H.R. 7127 Art. 11 § 39-26-4, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[2] H.R. 7127 Art. 11 § 39-26-5.1, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[3] H.R. 7127 Art. 11 § 39-26.4-2, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[4] H.R. 7127 Art. 11 § 39-1-27.7, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[5] H.R. 7174, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026); H.R. 7176, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026); H.R. 7177, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[6] H.R. 7523, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[7] H.R. 7996, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026); see also https://www.apslaw.com/its-your-business/2025/07/29/tides-of-change-rhode-island-coastal-development-update/
[8] H.R. 7996, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] Compare H.R. 7996, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026); H.R. 6126 Sub A, 2025 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2025).
[12] H.R. 7996, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[13] H.R. 7004, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[14] Id.
[15] H.R. 7004, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[16] See e.g. United States of America et al v. State of New York et al, 1:25CV03656 (S.D.N.Y.); United States of America et al v. State of Vermont et al, 2:25CV00463 (D. Vt.).
[17] See Nancy Lavin, Lawmakers Set Study Panel in Motion After North Kingstown Sludge Processing Plant Causes a Stir, Rhode Island Current (Apr. 17, 2026), https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/2026/04/17/lawmakers-set-study-panel-in-motion-after-north-kingstown-sludge-processing-plant-causes-a-stir/.
[18] S.R. 3225, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026); H.R. 7532, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026); H.R. 8431, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[19] S.R. 3225, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026); H.R. 7532, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
[20] H.R. 8431, 2026 Jan. Sess. (R.I. 2026).
About The Author
Todd D. Amaral
Todd focuses on assisting clients in the Ocean Tech, Blue Tech, and Climate Tech industries. He combines experience with issues related…
