Profile AnalysisPrint State Energy Profile
(overview, data, & analysis)
Last Updated: July 18, 2019
Overview
Rhode Island's mainland wraps around Narragansett Bay with its many islands.1,2 Called the Ocean State, Rhode Island is one-third water and includes Block Island further offshore, as well as one of New England's deepwater ports.3,4,5 The state has substantial renewable energy potential, particularly from winds offshore and along its extensive shoreline, but, like the rest of New England, Rhode Island does not have any fossil energy resources.6,7,8,9
Rhode Island consumes less energy per capita than any other state.
Rhode Island is the smallest state in the nation and is the second-most densely populated, after New Jersey.10,11 It is also one of the most energy efficient states, in terms of energy consumption per output of gross domestic product (GDP), in part because almost three-fourths of Rhode Island's GDP comes from private service industries.12 The largest contributors to the state's GDP are finance, insurance, and real estate; educational services, health care, and social assistance; government; and professional and business services. Rhode Island's industrial activities include the manufacture of transportation equipment; chemicals; computers and electronic equipment; fabricated metal products; and plastics.13 Although some energy-intensive industries contribute to the state's economy, Rhode Island is the smallest consumer of energy per capita among the states.14,15
The transportation sector leads Rhode Island's end-use energy consumption. However, because of the state's small size, transportation sector energy consumption is the second-lowest among the states, after Vermont, and the lowest on a per capita basis.16,17 Although Rhode Island summers are typically temperate, particularly in the ocean-moderated areas, the state's climate is characterized by temperatures that vary widely. Heavy snows can occur in winter, especially in the western third of Rhode Island where the terrain rises to 800 feet above sea level.18 Energy consumption in the residential sector is only slightly less than in the transportation sector, and industrial sector energy use is much lower.19
Electricity
Rhode Island generates a larger share of its electricity from natural gas than any other state—more than 90%. Most of the rest of the state's net generation comes from biomass, wind, and solar energy. A small amount of generation comes from hydroelectric power.20 Rhode Island is a member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a market-based program to reduce carbon emissions from electricity production in nine of the northeastern United States.21 With nearly all of its electricity net generation coming from natural gas, Rhode Island is among the nation's lowest carbon dioxide emitters.22
In line with its 7% share of the New England's population, Rhode Island accounted for about 6.5% of the region's electricity retail sales in 2018. However, Rhode Island's per capita electricity sales are lower than in all but California and Hawaii, and Rhode Island's per capita electricity sales to the industrial sector are lower than in all other states except Maryland.23,24 With fewer than 10 days with temperatures above 90°F in summer, air conditioning use is limited, and only about 1 in 10 households use electricity as their primary energy source for home heating in winter.25,26,27
Rhode Island was the first state to let all customers choose their electricity supplier.
In 1997, Rhode Island was the first state in the nation to implement an electricity restructuring plan, separating power generation from transmission and distribution.28 Initially for industrial customers, the plan was expanded to include commercial and residential customers in 1998.29 As a result, by 2018, all of the state's electricity was generated by independent power producers.30 An exception in the past was Block Island, which was not connected to the mainland grid and was dependent on Block Island Power Company's diesel-fueled generators. Generator fuel arrived in trucks ferried to the island. Because fuel prices at times caused Block Island's electricity costs to rise to more than four times the state's average, particularly in summer when rates and electricity demand went up with the influx of tourists, the island participated in the nation's first offshore wind project.31 On May 1, 2017, Block Island Power turned off its diesel generators and began receiving wind power. A cable installed between Block Island and the mainland, in conjunction with the wind farm, allowed electricity generated on the mainland to reach Block Island for the first time and allowed the Block Island wind-generated electric power to be sent to the onshore grid.32,33
Renewable energy
About 7% of Rhode Island's net generation from utility- and small-scale facilities came from renewable energy resources in 2018.34 Biomass provides the largest share of the state's renewable generation, and the state's largest onshore renewable energy generator is a biomass power plant that uses methane produced from a Providence landfill. That Providence power plant has a summer capacity of more than 30 megawatts. A second, smaller biomass facility has a capacity of about 6 megawatts.35 In 2018, biomass accounted for nearly 3% of the state's utility-scale net generation.36
The first U.S. offshore wind farm was connected to Block Island and Rhode Island’s mainland on May 1, 2017.
With the advent of offshore generation, wind-powered electricity generation in Rhode Island has increased rapidly in the past two years. In 2017, Rhode Island became home to the first operational offshore wind farm in the nation, the 30-megawatt, 5-turbine Block Island project.37,38,39 The state also has more than 22 megawatts of generating capacity from four onshore wind farms.40 With more than 46 megawatts of that wind capacity coming on line since 2016, the amount of wind-powered electricity generation in the state in 2018 was 16 times greater than in 2016.41,42 A 2006-2007 state-sponsored study determined that Rhode Island could meet at least 15% of its electricity needs with offshore power generation from wind and identified 10 potential offshore wind energy development sites.43
Increasing amounts of electric power generation in Rhode Island also come from solar energy resources.44 The state has more than 126 megawatts of solar photovoltaic (PV) generating capacity, most of it at small-scale facilities.45 In 2018, almost three-fourths of the solar PV generation in Rhode Island was from small-scale generation.46 The state's utility-scale solar PV generation facilities include solar arrays that have generating capacities of up to 4 megawatts. Rhode Island also has two hydroelectric power plants along its northern border. Each of those hydroelectric facilities has a generating capacity of less than 2 megawatts.47,48
Rhode Island's renewable energy standard (RES) requires that retail electricity providers obtain 38.5% of the power they sell in the state from renewable resources by the end of 2035. Retail electricity providers can meet their obligations with renewable energy certificates (RECs). Providers can obtain RECs by generating renewable energy themselves or by purchasing renewable energy or RECs from other renewable energy producers.49 In 2016, retail providers met almost all of their obligations with power produced in Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and New York. Most of the RECs used in Rhode Island were based on power produced from landfill gas, biomass, and wind.50 A separate Long-Term Contracting Standard for Renewable Energy required that electricity distribution companies enter into long-term contracts for capacity with facilities that provide renewable generation from new facilities. Some of that capacity must be at Rhode Island facilities.51
Petroleum
Rhode Island has no crude oil reserves and does not produce or refine petroleum, but the Port of Providence is a key petroleum products hub for southern New England.52 ,53,54 Almost all of the transportation and heating fuel products consumed in Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut, and parts of Massachusetts are supplied via marine shipments through the Port of Providence.55 The port area has petroleum storage tanks and a petroleum product pipeline that runs from the port to central Massachusetts.56
More than seven-tenths of the petroleum used in Rhode Island is consumed by the transportation sector, almost entirely as motor gasoline and diesel fuel.57,58 As in the surrounding states, the statewide use of reformulated motor gasoline blended with ethanol is required in Rhode Island year-round.59 The residential sector is the second-largest petroleum consumer in the state.60 About three-tenths of Rhode Island households use fuel oil as their primary energy source for home heating, making the state, like much of the U.S. Northeast, vulnerable to fuel oil shortages and price spikes in winter.61 To avert supply disruptions, the U.S. Department of Energy created the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve in 2000. The reserve contains 1 million barrels of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD). The heating oil is stored at three terminals, two in New England and one in New Jersey. The New England terminals, west and north of Rhode Island in Connecticut and in Massachusetts, together contain 700,000 barrels of ULSD.62,63 The combined consumption of petroleum in the industrial and commercial sectors equals residential sector use.64
Natural gas
Rhode Island does not have any natural gas reserves or production.65,66 The state's natural gas is supplied entirely by interstate pipelines. Two interstate pipelines bring natural gas into Rhode Island.67,68 Most of the natural gas that enters the state comes from the Marcellus and Utica shales in the Appalachian region, and most of that natural gas reaches Rhode Island through Connecticut.69 Almost two-thirds of the natural gas that enters Rhode Island is sent on to Massachusetts.70
Natural gas fuels nearly all of Rhode Island’s electricity generation and provides heat for more than half of its households.
Because almost all in-state electricity generation is fueled with natural gas, more than half of the natural gas consumed in Rhode Island goes to the electric power sector.71,72,73 As increasing amounts of natural gas are used for electricity generation in Rhode Island and throughout New England, access to reliable natural gas supplies has become a critical energy issue for the region. Additionally, more than half of the state's households heat with natural gas.74 Pipeline access is limited and new pipeline development has not kept up with demand.75
Rhode Island does not have any natural gas storage and depends on natural gas from storage fields in other states to meet peak winter demand.76 Because of regional pipeline constraints, Rhode Island and other New England states have also received some natural gas from liquefied natural gas (LNG) ports in Massachusetts.77,78
Coal
Rhode Island has no coal reserves or mining, and the state is one of only three in the nation with no coal-fired electricity generation.79,80 Providence was one of the leading coal import centers in the Northeast, receiving more than one-tenth of the imported coal delivered to the eastern customs districts in 2015. Coal imports into Providence decreased as demand for coal for electricity generation in New England fell. There were no coal imports received in Providence in 2017 or 2018. By 2018, coal imports into the eastern customs districts as a whole had decreased to one-fourth the 2015 level.81,82 However, the New England grid remains dependent on some coal-fired facilities during periods of peak electricity demand.83
Endnotes
1 U.S. Geological Survey, The USGS Water Science School, How much of your state is wet?, updated December 2, 2016.
2 World Atlas, Rhode Island, updated April 7, 2017.
3 NETSTATE, The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, updated July 28, 2017.
4 Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Block Island," accessed June 19, 2019.
5 Pilsch, Marty, "The Port of Providence, A multi-dimensional port," American Journal of Transportation (April 4, 2016).
6 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Wind Energy in Rhode Island, accessed June 19, 2019.
7 U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Crude Oil Proved Reserves, Reserves Changes, and Production, Proved Reserves as of 12/31, 2017.
8 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31, Dry Natural Gas, 2017.
9 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2017 (November 2018), Table 15, Recoverable Coal Reserves at Producing Mines, Estimated Recoverable Reserves, and Demonstrated Reserve Base by Mining Method, 2017.
10 NETSTATE, The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, updated July 28, 2017.
11 U.S. Census Bureau, Data, 2010 Census: Population Density Data (Text Version).
12 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C12, Total Energy Consumption Estimates, Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Energy Consumption Estimates per Real Dollar of GDP, Ranked by State, 2017.
13 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Interactive Data, Regional Data, GDP and Personal Income, Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State, GDP in Current Dollars, Rhode Island, All statistics in the table, 2017, 2018.
14 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Interactive Data, Regional Data, GDP and Personal Income, Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State, GDP in Current Dollars, Rhode Island, All statistics in the table, 2017, 2018.
15 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C13, Energy Consumption Estimates per Capita by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2017.
16 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F32, Total Energy Consumption, Price, and Expenditure Estimates, 2017.
17 U.S. Census Bureau, Data, National Population Totals and Components of Change: 2010-2018, Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2018 (NST-EST2018-01).
18 Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, "Climate of Rhode Island," Rhode Island's Climate, The CoCoRaHS ‘State Climates' Series, accessed June 19, 2019.
19 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2017.
20 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2019), Tables 1.3.B, 1.7.B, 1.10.B, 1.14.B, 1.15.B, 1.17.B.
21 State of Rhode Island, Office of Energy Resources, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), accessed June 20, 2019.
22 U.S. EIA, State Carbon Dioxide Emissions Data, Summary, accessed June 20, 2019.
23 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2019), Table 5.4.B.
24 U.S. Census Bureau, Data, National Population Totals and Components of Change: 2010-2018, Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2018 (NST-EST2018-01).
25 U.S. EIA, Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), Table HC7.7, Air conditioning in homes in the Northeast and Midwest regions, 2015.
26 Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, "Climate of Rhode Island," Rhode Island's Climate, The CoCoRaHS ‘State Climates' Series, accessed June 20, 2019.
27 U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, Rhode Island, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
28 State of Rhode Island, Office of Energy Resources, Learn About Electricity, What was electricity deregulation, or "electric restructuring"?, accessed June 20, 2019.
29 New England States Committee on Electricity, Electric Restructuring History Whitepaper (December 21, 2015).
30 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2019), Table 1.3.B.
31 Guevara-Stone, Laurie, "From Diesel to Wind on Block Island," Rocky Mountain Institute Outlet (June 19, 2015).
32 Shuman, Cassius, "Island operating on wind farm power," Block Island Times (May 1, 2017).
33 Shuman, Cassius, "How the wind powers the island," Block Island Times (May 5, 2017).
34 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2019), Tables 1.3.B, 1.10.B, 1.11.B, 1.17.B.
35 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Form EIA-860 detailed data with previous form data (EIA-860A/860B), 2018 Form EIA-860 Data, Schedule 3, 'Generator Data' (Operable Units Only).
36 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2019), Tables 1.3.B, 1.15.B.
37 Deepwater Wind, Block Island Wind Farm, accessed June 21, 2019.
38 Deepwater Wind, 2015-2016 Timeline for Block Island Wind Farm, accessed June 21, 2019.
39 Shuman, Cassius, "Island operating on wind farm power," Block Island Times (May 1, 2017).
40 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Form EIA-860 detailed data with previous form data (EIA-860A/860B), 2018 Form EIA-860 Data, Schedule 3, 'Generator Data' (Operable Units Only).
41 U.S. EIA, Rhode Island Electricity Profile 2017, Table 5, Electric power industry generation by primary energy source, 1990 through 2017.
42 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2019), Tables 1.17.B.
43 Peregrine Energy Group, Inc., Rhode Island Offshore Wind Stakeholders Final Report (February 2008), p. 1.
44 U.S. EIA, Rhode Island Electricity Profile 2017, Table 5, Electric power industry generation by primary energy source, 1990 through 2017.
45 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2019), Table 6.2.B.
46 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2019), Table 1.17.B.
47 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Form EIA-860 detailed data with previous form data (EIA-860A/860B), 2018 Form EIA-860 Data, Schedule 3, 'Generator Data' (Operable Units Only).
48 U.S. EIA, Rhode Island Profile Overview, Hydroelectric Power Plant Map Layer, accessed June 21, 2019.
49 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Rhode Island Renewable Energy Standard, updated June 26, 2018.
50 Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, Rhode Island Renewable Energy Standard Annual RES Compliance Report for Compliance Year 2016 (April 2018), p. ES-1, ES-2.
51 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Rhode Island Renewable Energy Standard, updated June 26, 2018.
52 U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Proved Reserves, Reserves Changes, and Production, Estimated Production and Proved Reserves as of 12/31, 2012-17.
53 U.S. EIA, Number and Capacity of Petroleum Refineries, Total Number of Operable Refineries as of January 1, 2014-19.
54 U.S. EIA, Petroleum and Other Liquids, Company Level Imports, accessed June 24, 2019.
55 McCann, Jennifer, et.al., Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan, OceanSAMP, Volume 1, Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (October 19, 2010), Chapter 7, p. 40-41.
56 Rhode Island Division of Planning, Energy 2035, Rhode Island State Energy Plan (October 8, 2015), p. 14.
57 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2017.
58 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C2, Energy Consumption Estimates for Major Energy Sources in Physical Units, 2017.
59 Larson, B. K., U.S. Gasoline Requirements, ExxonMobil (January 2018).
60 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2017.
61 U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, Rhode Island, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
62 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NEHHOR) History, accessed June 24, 2019.
63 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NEHHOR), accessed June 24, 2019.
64 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2017.
65 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31, Dry Natural Gas, Annual, 2012-17.
66 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals, Annual, 2013-18.
67 Enbridge, Algonquin Gas Transmission, accessed June 24, 2019.
68 Kinder Morgan, Tennessee Gas Pipeline and System Map, accessed June 24, 2019.
69 U.S. EIA, "New England natural gas pipeline capacity increases for the first time since 2010," Today in Energy (December 6, 2016).
70 U.S. EIA, International and Interstate Movements of Natural Gas by State, Rhode Island, 2012-17.
71 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Rhode Island, Annual, 2013-18.
72 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2019), Tables 1.3.B, 1.7.B.
73 U.S. EIA, Rhode Island Electricity Profile 2017, Table 5, Electric power industry generation by primary energy source, 1990 through 2017.
74 U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, Rhode Island, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
75 ISO-New England, Natural Gas Infrastructure Constraints, accessed June 24, 2019.
76 U.S. EIA, Underground Natural Gas Storage Capacity, Total Storage Capacity, Annual, 2012-17.
77 U.S. EIA, International and Interstate Movements of Natural Gas by State, Massachusetts, 2012-17.
78 U.S. EIA, International and Interstate Movements of Natural Gas by State, Rhode Island, 2012-17.
79 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2017 (November 2018), Tables 1, 15.
80 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2018), Tables 1.3.B, 1.4.B.
81 U.S. EIA, Quarterly Coal Report, October-December 2016 (April 2017), Table 20, Coal Imports by Customs District.
82 U.S. EIA, Quarterly Coal Report, October-December 2018 (April 2019), Table 20, Coal Imports by Customs District.
83 ISO-New England, Natural Gas Infrastructure Constraints, Access to Fuel Has Become Uncertain during Winter, accessed June 24, 2019.