The results were a mixed bag on Tuesday at the R.I. Public Utilities Commission meeting when the Block Island Utility District’s Docket 5192 was taken up at an open meeting.
The meeting was, specifically, not a public hearing and no comments from the general public were entertained.
Filed on Oct 26, 2021 the docket is for a new net metering policy, or tariff, made possible by the passing of legislation that allows Block Island and Pascoag to exceed the three-percent cap on net metering projects set under state law. Block Island exceeded that cap a couple of years ago and since then, prospective customers have been piling up on a waiting list. The legislation allowed Block Island to set its own cap, and the district decided on 10 percent of its peak load.
The docket has been put through it paces. After filing, there was discovery and review by the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers, responses from BIUD, public comment, a public hearing, and finally, themeeting on Tuesday, March 29, when the three commissioners discussed and ruled on the case. Or at least parts of it.The PUC Chair, Ronald Gerwatowski, said: “I thought it would be a
