Invenergy
declines to appeal. Their proposed power plant is dead.
By
Steve Ahlquist for UpRiseRI
Friday,
November 15 in Rhode Island was remarkable because of what didn’t happen.
Outside
the Court House on Benefit Street in Providence, a small group of people
anxiously waited to see if Invenergy would appeal the Energy
Facilities Siting Board (EFSB)’s decision to reject their proposed $1B
fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant, aimed at the pristine forests
of our state’s northwest corner.
The power plant had until 4 pm on Friday to appeal the decision to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
The power plant had until 4 pm on Friday to appeal the decision to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
At
around 4:01 pm, writes power plant opponent Paul Roselli, the group
received a text message from Invenergy that there would be no appeal.
A minute
later the group received an email from from the Rhode Island Supreme Court clerk’s
office which read that the court “did not receive a petition for writ
of certiorari in this matter as of the close of business today.”
“It
was a good feeling,” said Paul Roselli – president of the Burrillville
Land Trust (BLT) and one of the key opposition leaders to the power plant.
“This all started August 1, 2015, when the Governor of Rhode Island standing
with Invenergy’s owner Michael Polsky, declared before cameras and members
of the Providence Chamber of Commerce, ‘We will do everything we can to
make sure you’re successful here.’
“Now
it’s truly over. And we, Rhode Island, won.”
Governor Gina
Raimondo never gave up on fighting for the power plant, despite her public
protestations of neutrality as to the outcome. Her Office of Energy
Resources was at every session of EFSB hearings, arguing in support of the
power plant alongside Invenergy.
EDITOR’S
NOTE: Charlestown was dragged directly into this fight when Invenergy made a
deal with a Narragansett tribal official under which the tribe would sell water
for cooling the plant. That water would be drawn from the underground source
that supplies Charlestown residents with their drinking water. The deal was
denounced by many members of the Tribe along with just about everyone else in
town. That widespread opposition killed the deal.
As Roselli points out, “Groups with the acronym BASE, FANG, CLF, NNPP,
BLT, and more familiar names such as the Town of Burrillville, The
Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society of Rhode Island, Save the Bay,
thirty+ cities and towns in Rhode Island and nearby Connecticut and
Massachusetts, and many more” came out against the power plant, and never
stopped fighting.
"This
decision is historic, perhaps on par with the Burning of the Gaspee, which some
see as the opening salvo in the American Revolution. The EFSB, it should be
noted, had never before ruled against the building of a power plant in Rhode
Island. Perhaps in the future we will see this event as the day we turned the
corner on fossil fuels and climate change.
The Conservation
Law Foundation (CLF) and the Town of Burrillville led the legal fight
against the power plant.
“I
am pleased to tell you that Invenergy is dead,” wrote CLF lead attorney Jerry
Elmer in an email.
“Invenergy’s appeal period ended at 4:00 PM today, and
no appeal was filed. (I was at the Supreme Court when they closed up for the
day, so I know this for sure.) This is a victory for the climate, a victory for
the people of Burrillville, and a victory for us all. Thank you for your
support of CLF through this long struggle. Invenergy filed its application on
October 29, 2015, and now – more than four years later – we won!
“And
yet,” continued Elmer, “as sweet as this victory is, there is much (much!) more
work to do to address the climate crisis. Please make this work your own in the
coming months and years. Together we can succeed.”
“Perhaps
this is the beginning of the end for fossil fuel use for the production of
electricity in Rhode Island,” said Paul Roselli. “I think so.”
Steve
Ahlquist is a frontline reporter in Rhode Island. He has covered
human rights, social justice, progressive politics and environmental news for
half a decade. Uprise RI is his new project, and he's doing all he can to make
it essential reading. atomicsteve@gmail.com