Revised energy plan will be roadmap for Ocean State

POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT: R.I. Energy Resources Commissioner Marion Gold says energy issues are more at the forefront now than when she began in the field. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT: R.I. Energy Resources Commissioner Marion Gold says energy issues are more at the forefront now than when she began in the field. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

Marion Gold is Rhode Island’s second commissioner of energy resources, leading the state’s environmental planning at a critical time when climate change, increasingly intense storms and a sluggish economy have to merge into viable energy policy.
A top priority is updating the state’s energy plan, with input from hundreds of Rhode Islanders, including residents, state agencies, organizations and businesses.

PBN: What do you think are the energy-related challenges in Rhode Island compared to other states?
GOLD: It’s an incredibly exciting time to be working on energy issues because they are so critical for our economy and our environment and the quality of our lives. Rhode Island spent more than $3.6 billion on energy in 2010, so it’s a giant part of our economy. That’s just how much money Rhode Island residents and businesses spent on electricity to keep the lights on, to keep our houses warm and to power our transportation system. How we use those dollars can have a big influence on our economic well-being, as well as our environmental well-being. One of our challenges is to see, given that we are a small state, how many of those billions of dollars we can keep in our state economy. That’s one of our goals.

PBN: How do we know Rhode Island’s energy-efficiency programs are among the best in the country?
GOLD: We know that because we have some of the highest goals for reducing our energy use and we measure and evaluate our success in meeting those goals on a yearly basis. The energy-efficiency program starts with the 2006 energy legislation, the Least Cost Procurement legislation. It says every time we can spend a dollar on energy efficiency and get more value than spending a dollar on fossil fuel-generated energy, it is state policy to do that. As a result of that we have a very specific and very detailed road map of how we are going to achieve those goals.

PBN: You’ve been working in environmental management for 30 years. How has the public perception of environmental issues changed over that time?
GOLD: I guess the biggest difference I’ve seen … is that this is now front and center. It’s on the minds of businesses. When I was a kid there was not the term “sustainable business.” … Now we are seeing many businesses taking advantage of the need to reduce emissions or reduce greenhouse gases. There’s much more of an intersect between economic and environmental goals.

PBN: What’s your perspective on climate change and how Rhode Island is preparing to meet that challenge?
GOLD: We get buffeted by those massive storms that come through and remind people of the potential of climate change to wreak both environmental and economic havoc and destroy our communities. As a state and as a region, we are out in front in terms of trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our power-generating plants though the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. … We’re also working to plan to adapt to climate change, knowing the sea level will be rising.

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PBN: How has your experience prepared you for the job?
GOLD: One of the things I am struck with is that energy touches all of our lives. People are really interested in it, but it is an incredibly complicated issue. Working at the university, I came to really appreciate and value – I’ve always valued – the power of education and trying to help people at all levels of society understand more about the world around them. I think that is an ongoing challenge. A lot of what I do now is educating and learning. I’m always listening to different energy stakeholders, trying to understand their point of view and figure out what the appropriate balance is for the public sector.

PBN: What is your biggest challenge in your position as commissioner of energy resources?
GOLD: One of our priorities is updating the state energy plan so that we have a coordinated and comprehensive vision to lead Rhode Island to a clean-economy future. It’s a very exciting process. It’s very important to have good data, to bring good information to the table as we set our course of action. In some ways, that’s the easy part. The hard part is getting involved in the details that you have to work through to actually achieve the change.

PBN: What is the status of the state energy plan?
GOLD: The last time the state energy plan was updated was in 2002, which was a whole different world.

PBN: What does updating the plan involve?
GOLD: We’re working in cooperation with state Division of Planning … and also Gov. Chafee. We have an advisory council that’s about 25 people from all different sectors. The plan involves looking at the electricity sector, the thermal sector, which is heating our buildings, and the transportation sector.

PBN: Is there a target date to complete that plan?
GOLD: Right now we’re in phase one, which is research and data collection. That will run through June. Then we’ll be modeling different energy scenarios and running those before literally hundreds of people who are involved in energy issues in Rhode Island to get their feedback. From that we’ll develop our action plan. We release the preliminary draft plan in phase three, technical and public review, which will be in the fall. Then it would be adopted in March 2014. •

INTERVIEW
Marion Gold
POSITION: Rhode Island commissioner of energy resources
BACKGROUND: Marion Gold has been involved with Rhode Island environmental issues since 1984, including positions as planner for the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, director of the recycling program at Rhode Island Resource Management Corp., coordinator of URI’s Extension Education and Research Program, and director of URI’s Outreach and Energy Center. She was nominated for the position of commissioner of energy resources by Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee in June 2012 and served temporarily as administrator until she was confirmed by the Senate on March 5.
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in natural resources science and policy, University of Michigan, 1977; master’s in environmental economics, Michigan State University, 1982; Ph.D. in environmental sciences, University of Rhode Island, 2003
FIRST JOB: Receptionist for Ford Motor Co.
RESIDENCE: North Kingstown
AGE: 57

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