The rising cost of energy places a greater burden on lower-income families and makes it difficult for them to participate in efforts to decarbonize the power sector. (istock)
PROVIDENCE — A week and a half after ratepayers filled a hearing room at the Public Utilities Commission to express rage and frustration at sky-high electric and natural gas rates, advocates filled the Statehouse on Thursday evening to support a bevy of legislation aimed at lowering energy costs and aimed their criticism at the state’s main utility company.
During a marathon three-and-a-half hour hearing, members of the House Corporations Committee heard repeated stories of residents struggling to keep up with their utility bills, and advocates frustrated by Rhode Island Energy executives, who they allege won’t engage in good faith to reinstate more protections and programs for low-income communities…