Rhode Island’s Renewable Energy Growth Program

Beginning on May 1, 2024, all renewable distributed generation projects will need to comply with the new “core forest” requirements resulting from changes in the solar siting law, Chapter 300. For renewable energy facilities with a nameplate capacity of 25kW or less and/or installed entirely on a rooftop of an existing structure, which enroll in either RE Growth or Net Metering, a new Self-Certification for Core Forest Determination form must be completed and submitted to Rhode Island Energy as part of the interconnection application. This form is available on the Department of Environmental Management (DEM)’s website. For renewable energy facilities greater than 25kW and not entirely on a rooftop of an existing structure, which enroll in either RE Growth or Net Metering, a Full Core Forest Determination by DEM is required prior to enrolling in RE Growth. Developers of renewable energy facilities are required to submit a siting document to DEM via the online form available at https://dem.ri.gov/coreforest.

Rhode Island Energy hosted a Developers' conference on Thursday, May 23rd 2024 to discuss the extensive changes to the RE Growth Tariffs and Rules for Program Year 2024 (pdf).

Summary of the RE Growth Program for Small-Scale Projects (Coming soon.)
Summary of the RE Growth Program for Solar (Greater than 25 kilowatts), Wind, Hydroelectric, and Anaerobic Digester Projects. (Coming soon.)

Small-Scale Solar Projects

Applicants may enroll via an interconnection application. You may apply for the Program by clicking on the Interconnection Process Webpage link in the Submission of Bids section below. View the currently available capacity in the Small-Scale Solar Renewable Energy Class to view the currently available capacity in the Small-Scale Solar Renewable Energy Class.

The PUC has approved an extension to the 2023 ceiling prices during the month of April. Applications that are submitted in April will be processed with 2023 prices unless we hear from the installer/customer with 2 BD of submissions that would like to defer to May 2024.

Solar (Greater than 25 kW), Wind, Hydroelectric, and Anaerobic Digester Projects.

Applications must be submitted during one of the two-week Open Enrollments. Applicants are required to apply for the Program using the RE Growth Open Enrollment Application, which must be filled out and emailed to regnonsmallsolar@pplweb.com. Alternatively, the bidder may request a secure link to submit their application. In addition, certain documentation must be uploaded to SalesForce.

Please see the RE Growth Program Tariffs and Solicitation and Enrollment Process Rules for program guidance covering Small-Scale Solar and all other Technology Classes.

Effective May 1, 2024:

For residential customers and small-scale solar projects: Tariff and program solicitation and enrollment process rules

• Renewable Energy Growth Program Tariff for Residential Customers, RIPUC No. 2151-K (pdf)
• Rhode Island Renewable Energy Growth Program Solicitation and Enrollment Process Rules for Small-Scale Solar Projects (pdf)

For non-residential customers and solar (greater than 25kW), wind, hydro, and anaerobic digester projects: Tariff and program solicitation and enrollment process rules

• Renewable Energy Growth Program Tariff for Non-Residential Customers, RIPUC No. 2152-K (pdf) 
• Rhode Island Renewable Energy Growth Program Solicitation and Enrollment Process Rules for Solar (Greater than 25kW), Wind, Hydro and Anaerobic Digester Projects (pdf) 

• RE Growth Termination Request Form (pdf)