By TIM FAULKER/ecoRI.org
News staff
PROVIDENCE — Costs
have come down and efficiency has improved, yet Rhode Island is well behind
other states when it comes to solar energy.
Rhode Island ranks last
in the Northeast in renewable energy projects per capita and is next to last in
the 12-state region for solar energy installation, according to a 2011 report from the Interstate Renewable Energy
Council.
Contractors and
experts of residential and small solar projects say business has suffered
because the state lacks the incentives to entice consumers.
Several installers
testified at an April 4 House hearing on two bills (H5116, H5558) to restore a tax credit.
“It’s literally like a
switch,” Sabetti said. “With that tax credit I’m hiring people. Without it,
business grinds to a halt.”
Since the state tax
break ended, a 30 percent federal tax credit has been the sole incentive for
smaller solar projects. A one-year 25 percent grant program was launched this year by the state
Renewable Energy Fund. Sabetti said the grants have helped, but he worries that
it will slow once the program ends.
For the third year,
Rep. Deb Ruggiero, D-Jamestown, introduced a bill to reinstate the 25 percent
tax credit that ended in 2010. The state spent $719,700 during the four years
the credit was active, or about $155,000 a year, Ruggiero said. She estimated
the economic benefit of $4 million from the solar projects.
Vito Buonomano, owner
Northeast Solar & Wind Power, said Rhode Island employees fewer than 100 in
the renewable energy sector, while Massachusetts increased its employment in
the sector by 50,000 during the past four years.
"We have millions
of dollars in renewable energy leaving the state every year and we’re worried about
a couple hundred thousand dollars, it just doesn’t make any sense,"
Buonomano said.
Bob Chew, one of the
state’s first solar installers and developers, said photovoltaic solar panels
are generating more electricity while the prices have dropped. But Rhode Island
hasn’t offered programs like Massachusetts and Connecticut, which have both
seen significant growth in the smaller renewable energy sector.
“It was a
tried-and-true tax credit,” said Abel Collins, director of the Rhode Island
chapter of the Sierra Club. “It’s good for the environment. It’s good for the
fiscal health of the state.”
The legislation has
bipartisan support within the House. Environmentalist groups endorse the bill,
as well as a chapter of the Rhode Island Tea Party.
The bills were held
for further study.