Sen. Dawn Euer has introduced legislation aimed at slowing the rapid climb in utility-driven costs on Rhode Islanders’ energy bills, capping how much public utility companies can grow their capital spending plans each year and barring them from passing certain business expenses on to customers.
The bill, 2026-S 2779, would limit annual increases to a utility’s infrastructure, safety and reliability — or ISR — capital improvement plan to no more than 3% of the average of the previous five years of approved plans. It would also block utilities from recovering legal and administrative costs tied to rate cases or ISR proceedings from ratepayers.
“Rhode Islanders understand the importance of sticking to a household budget and it’s time for our utilities do the same,” Euer, D-Newport, Jamestown, said. “There is no one simple answer to solving our energy affordability crisis, but limiting the capital spending increases by our utilities is an important step.”
Euer argued the current regulatory framework encourages utilities to spend aggressively on capital projects because it is the mechanism through which they generate profits for shareholders. In Rhode Island, utilities are not allowed to profit from procuring the energy itself; they earn a rate of return on energy delivery based on the infrastructure they build, which is reviewed in ISR hearings before the Public Utilities Commission.
“Under our current system, our utilities have strong incentives to spend as much on capital improvements as they can because that is how they generate profits to reward their shareholders,” Euer said. “This bill will change the legal framework that produces these incentives to make our utilities think strategically about which capital improvements are in the best interest of Rhode Island households and businesses.”
The numbers behind the push have moved quickly. According to Rhode Island Energy, ISR spending cost the typical customer $237 a year on their gas bill in 2024, up from $63 in 2020. The utility proposed lifting that figure to $313 in 2025.
The legislation also takes aim at the kinds of corporate spending utilities can recoup from customers, either directly or indirectly. Advertising, marketing, communications, public education and lobbying would all be off-limits, as would the research, analysis, preparation or planning costs that support those activities.
Euer pointed to similar laws recently enacted in Connecticut, Maine, California and Colorado. Connecticut lawmakers have reported that the savings to ratepayers from lobbying alone topped $1.3 million in the two years after that state’s law took effect.
Beyond holding down bills, the senator’s office said the provisions are designed to push utilities to manage their infrastructure investments more prudently and cost-effectively.
