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Introduction Rhode Island Renewable Energy Siting Partnership
and production of the RESP findings document, and is described in detail in Chapter 6 of this volume.
3. A
U
SER
’
S
G
UIDE TO
RESP P
RODUCTS
The intended end users of the RESP products are renewable energy stakeholders and decision makers in Rhode Island. Municipal decision makers are anticipated to be the primary
users of the RESP, but other stakeholders and decision makers, including the public, state officials, the advocacy community, and energy developers, are also expected to make use of
RESP findings and tools as they evaluate renewable energy options in areas of interest to them. The RESP findings are not intended to supersede any site-specific analyses that would be
required before project development or construction. Potential developers are responsible for conducting necessary studies of a proposed facility site, including assessments of specific
impacts that the proposed project may have on the surrounding environment and community. However, RESP findings may be used by developers and decision makers to make informed
preliminary judgments about an area’s development potential or to make rough comparisons among various seemingly viable development sites. Moreover, the RESP findings represent a
publicly accessible, centralized collection of information that will enable community members and others to formulate educated opinions about renewable energy options in their communities.
It is hoped that this information will improve development proposals, increase transparency with regard to potential impacts of proposed developments, and provide for a collaborative exchange
of ideas and information among developers, decision-makers, and community members when deciding whether and where to construct renewable energy facilities in a community.
The RESP presents its findings in two forms. The first is this report: a document containing accounts from other places, local stakeholder insight, and original research by URI
scientists on predicted opportunities and constraints associated with development of wind, solar, and hydropower in Rhode Island. The second is a Rhode Island-specific website housing energy
data, resource and siting-decision support mapping tools, and information for citizens, businesses, and government officials. This energy information clearinghouse is called
RI Energy.org
. Both the report and the website are decision-making tools designed to facilitate the appropriate siting of renewable energy facilities in Rhode Island and to identify possible impacts
and mitigation requirements associated with future projects. Volume 1 of the RESP report brings together literature collected from other places,
original research conducted in Rhode Island, and stakeholder input gathered during the RESP process, to explore renewable energy production potential and identify environmental, economic,
social, and legal issues potentially associated with the growth of renewable energy in the state. Chapter 1, Wind Energy, discusses the distribution of wind resources across Rhode Island and
describes several possible impacts of concern related to wind energy development. These include
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safety concerns, acoustic impacts, shadow flicker, impacts on birds and bats, visualaesthetic impacts, impacts on cultural and historic resources, and impacts on property values. The chapter
then presents a series of maps developed by the RESP to aid in siting of wind turbines in Rhode Island. Chapter 2, Landfill Solar Energy, discusses opportunities and constraints facing
deployment of utility-scale photovoltaic solar systems on closed landfills in Rhode Island. It includes a screening methodology developed by the RESP to identify possible landfill sites
suitable for solar development. Chapter 3, Hydropower, summarizes the RESP assessment of power potential at existing dams in Rhode Island and discusses possible hydropower siting
constraints, including environmental, cultural, historical, public safety, and regulatory considerations. Chapters 1-3 conclude with descriptions of legal and regulatory factors relevant
to energy siting and permitting at both the federal and Rhode Island levels for each of these three forms of renewable energy, respectively.
Chapters 4-5 of Volume 1 complement energy source-specific information with additional analysis applicable to all three types of renewable energy reviewed in Chapters 1-3.
Chapter 4, RI Energy.org
, describes the design, development, and contents of the online decision support and informational tools available at
RI Energy.org . Lastly, Chapter 5, Stakeholder
Process and Public Engagement, explains the ways in which the RESP drew on the expertise and insights of key constituencies and the general public to create a set of tools fully tailored to
Rhode Island’s unique social and environmental context. Volume 2 of the RESP report contains a collection of documents offering greater detail
on the information presented in Volume 1. Several of these documents describe the methods and results of the research carried out by URI scientists in support of the RESP. Since many RESP
users will refer primarily to the summary chapters collected in Volume 1, rather than read the more detailed analyses presented in Volume 2, the highlights of RESP research are synthesized
in the chapters of Volume 1. Volume 2 also contains several documents pertaining to renewable energy policy and regulations in Rhode Island. These include detailed descriptions of state and
federal regulations pertaining to the siting of wind, solar, and hydropower, as well as a summary of legislative actions that took place around the time of the RESP supporting renewable energy
development in Rhode Island. RI Energy.org
is Rhode Island’s first centralized online clearinghouse for state energy
information and analytics. In addition to presenting background information on energy production and usage in Rhode Island, the website includes a collection of user-friendly online
mapping tools that RESP users may draw upon to 1 visualize the solar, wind, and hydropower production potential at different locations around the state and 2 evaluate possible impacts of
solar, wind, and hydropower production on the human and natural environment at different sites. The RESP online map viewer tools incorporate original RESP data, data collected from other
sources, and models developed by URI scientists as part of their RESP research. By using the
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RESP online siting tools, local decision makers and the public can interpret data on renewable energy resources and predict potential impacts. RESP online siting tools are described in detail in
Chapter 4 of this volume.
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