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2.3 Assessment of Energy Data Projects Elsewhere in the U.S. The RESP team conducted a survey of existing energy data and mapping websites
developed by other states that could provide models for RI Energy.org
. The goal was to leverage best design, features, and functionalities in order to make Rhode Island’s energy website a
superior example of an online state energy website. RI Energy.org
is the first of its kind to blend renewable energy mapping tools with a centralized energy database. Examples were sought that
captured both of these end goals. The Renewable Energy Atlas of Vermont was identified as a model example of a mappingsiting tool and the New Jersey Energy Data Center provided an
instance of how energy data might be compiled, organized and presented.
2.3.1 Renewable Energy Atlas of Vermont
The Renewable Energy Atlas of Vermont was the first tool in the U.S. of its kind to allow users to identify, analyze, and visualize existing and potential sites for multiple types of energy
projects. The site was developed as part of a collaborative effort between the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund VSJF, Vermont Center for Geographic Information, Fountains Spatial,
and Overit Media based out of Albany, New York. It was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund, Vermont Community Foundation, and
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. The goal of the Renewable Energy Atlas was to let users to assess possibilities for renewable energy and efficiency projects in their town and understand
how these projects would affect energy planning and policies. It targets an audience consisting of the general public, town energy committees, Clean Energy Development Fund, educators,
planners, policy-makers, and businesses. The tool is intended to help decision-makers evaluate options to increase the amount of non-carbon-emitting so
urces of energy in the state’s energy portfolio via the informed and strategic siting of efficiency measures and renewable projects.
The resulting decision-support tool is a GIS-based system that allows its users to select a location and analyze options for wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass generation
as well as efficiency projects. The mapping interface completes an assessment of the potential energy project, provides the information necessary to interpret the results of the analysis, and the
option to save the map and results as a PDF or URL. The site allows users to work with one energy option at a time and determine the percentage of a given area that is usable in accordance
with multiple siting criteria restrictions and available financing options. The tool displays the steps taken to complete an analysis including calculations,
assumptions, how the data was collected, and from which resources. Site developers used a variety of sources for each data layer appearing on the interactive map. Site users can view these
original sources along with a complete page of metadata for each data layer. Many of the layers were created from ESRI ArcGIS Online basemaps and services and the Vermont Center for
Geographic Information. Additional data sources include True Wind Solutions, LLC and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative for wind speed maps, the Water Quality Division,
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River Management Section, and Wetlands Section of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation DEC for data related to wetlands and hydro dams, the Vermont Agency of
Natural Resources, and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. The data collected from these sources is updated frequently in the database and the site documents the date of the most
recent update for each data layer.
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2.3.2 New Jersey Energy Data Center
