By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI.org
News staff
PROVIDENCE — A
committee of renewable energy experts was surprised to learn that many of its
members, along with other Rhode Island developers of wind and solar energy,
weren't licensed to install solar-energy projects in the Ocean State.
“Right now, everyone
in this room cannot do solar,” said Bob Chew, a veteran of the Rhode Island
solar industry, at a recent meeting of the state Renewable Energy Coordinating
Board.
 |
| Bob Chew advocates for new standards for solar energy installers. (Tim Faulkner/ecoRI News) |
Chew, a member of the
board that helps shape the state's renewable energy policies, learned that
completed wind and energy project were likely installed without an
electrician’s license — a fact that might delay future solar and wind projects,
even those that may have been recently approved by the state’s distributed
generation contracts program.
According to the state
Department of Labor and Training (DLT), a company installing any sort of
electrical generation device must have at least one master electrician. At the
very least, the master electrician must serve as an elected officer of the
company. Only journeyman electricians can install the equipment. The
electrician certification also is required for a solar and wind company to
advertise and bid on a project, as well as to solicit customers.
According to the DLT,
only two companies are licensed to install solar energy projects in Rhode
Island.
Chew said he
discovered the requirement while researching ideas to grow the state’s listless
wind and solar sector, in particular the small businesses that install renewable
systems on homes and small businesses. “We have virtually no solar industry in
Rhode Island,” he said.
Many in the room, like
Chew, noted that they relied on certified electricians to connect a solar
project to a building’s electrical system. Members said they didn't realize
they needed to employ licensed electricians to install PV panels on a building.
“It’s hard to get an
electrician who wants to climb on a roof,” Chew said.
Chew raised the
licensing issue in order to underscore the many barriers to the struggling
small-scale solar industry, a sector that is thriving in neighboring
Massachusetts and Connecticut. Both of those states don't require an
electrician's license to install solar and wind projects. They also offer
grants and other incentives for small wind and solar projects — incentives that
appear to be working.
Massachusetts recently
reported an 11 percent increase in clean-energy jobs in 2012. Currently, 71,523
employees work for 4,995 renewable energy firms in Massachusetts. The Bay State
is generating 143 megawatts of solar energy; Rhode Island generates 1.3
megawatts.
Meanwhile, Rhode
Island has the second-highest unemployment rate in the country at 10.7 percent;
Massachusetts has an unemployment rate of 6.3 percent.
Approval for a new
solar or wind project can take up to six months in Rhode Island, Chew said. In
Connecticut, it takes about two days.
Chew relocated one of
his solar companies to Connecticut because of the favorable financial
incentives. Last year, Rhode Island passed legislation to set pricing for
larger wind, solar and hydroelectric energy projects. At the same time, a tax
credit for new small-scale wind, solar and geothermal systems expired.
Richard Licht,
director of the state Department of Administration, which oversees the Office
of Energy Resources, said he would speak with Gov. Lincoln Chafee about
endorsing legislation that modifies the requirement for an electrician's
certification.
Paul Ruducha of the
Providence Energy Group said many renewable projects might have to come to a
halt until the law is changed. “It would be a year from now before anyone in
this room can do business,” he said.
“I guess,” Licht
responded.
