Rhode Island governor directs $28 million in RGGI funds to offset winter electricity costs
Gov. Dan McKee has directed $28 million from Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction reserves to provide direct electric-rate relief for all Rhode Island residential electric customers, acting through an executive order signed July 23, 2026.
Executive Order 26-05 declares an energy-affordability emergency and assigns the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources to allocate and disburse the funding. The action creates a statewide residential relief program, rather than limiting the funds to a particular utility territory, customer-income group or application-based program.
The order comes after Rhode Island Energy announced a projected double-digit increase in winter electricity prices. The executive order cites elevated regional energy costs and an anticipated winter price spike in setting out the basis for the emergency action.
How the relief is to be funded
The $28 million is to come from available auction reserves associated with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, known as RGGI. The order directs the funds toward direct rate relief for residential electric consumers.
McKee’s action is an executive directive to use those available reserves for the stated relief purpose. It does not establish a permanent reduction in electricity rates, and it does not state that the anticipated winter price increase has been canceled or changed.
All Rhode Island residential electric customers are within the scope identified by the order. However, the order and accompanying announcement do not state the final dollar value of an individual customer credit. They also do not say whether every customer will receive the same credit amount.
Office of Energy Resources will administer funds
The Office of Energy Resources is responsible for the next confirmed administrative steps: allocating the $28 million and disbursing it for the direct rate-relief program. The approved sources do not provide a schedule for that work or a date when relief will appear on customer bills.
That means the $28 million direction is confirmed, but the distribution details remain unspecified. Customers cannot yet determine from the order alone how much relief they may receive or when a credit may be applied.
The order’s focus is residential electric consumers statewide. The available materials describe the funding as emergency relief for Rhode Island households in response to projected winter electricity costs.
Limited legal suspension
To carry out across-the-board rate relief, Executive Order 26-05 suspends portions of Rhode Island General Laws §23-82-6 only to the extent necessary to implement the program.
The suspension is expressly tied to implementing the relief. The order does not describe the action as a permanent change to that law or a permanent restructuring of electric rates.
What comes next
The next known step is implementation by the Office of Energy Resources, including the allocation and disbursement of the $28 million. No individual-credit amount, bill-credit date or other distribution deadline was provided in the executive order or the governor’s July 23 announcement.
For now, the order establishes the state’s decision to direct RGGI auction reserves to residential electric-rate relief as Rhode Island prepares for the projected winter price increase. Further program details will be needed to show how and when customers will receive the relief.
Sources
- Executive Order 26-05, Office of Governor Dan McKee
- Governor McKee Signs Executive Order Directing $28 Million in Emergency Relief, Office of Governor Dan McKee