Rhode Island
Court hears AG’s appeal of RI’s main electric and gas provider
PROVIDENCE — State utilities regulators failed to totally contemplate ratepayer impacts and the implications for local weather motion, amongst different points, once they permitted the $5.2-billion sale of Rhode Island’s major power supplier.
So goes the argument made by the Workplace of Lawyer Basic Peter Neronha, which appealed to Superior Court docket the February determination by the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers.
However PPL Company, the Pennsylvania firm looking for to purchase Nationwide Grid’s electrical and pure gasoline operations in Rhode Island, counters that the division weighed all of the related issues and that Neronha’s workplace and its supporters are merely combating the choice as a result of they’re sad with the end result.
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On Tuesday, the 2 sides had been in a Windfall courtroom presenting their arguments on the adequacy of the division’s ruling on the proposed transaction, which is in limbo pending a choice by Choose Brian Stern.
Whereas Stern wasn’t ready to supply a choice instantly, he promised one quickly. How he guidelines might decide the destiny of the sale, or at the least how rapidly it proceeds. The events to the deal secured approval from the Federal Vitality Regulatory Fee with no hitch and cleared a needed hurdle in Massachusetts after a settlement was reached with Lawyer Basic Maura Healey final month. A decision in Rhode Island is all that is still.
Attorneys with the legal professional basic’s workplace are not looking for to vacate the choice — which was made by the DPUC’s deputy administrator and signed off on by the administrator — and have the division restart the assessment course of from sq. one. Quite, they need the court docket to remand the choice again to the division with directions on points that also should be addressed.
If Stern returns the case to the division, it’s unlikely that it will result in a unique conclusion. Nevertheless it might imply that PPL is required to supply extra info on its plans for Rhode Island and, presumably, further commitments.
That may very well be particularly essential in regard to the Act on Local weather, a landmark measure that grew to become state legislation final 12 months and requires Rhode Island to slash planet-warming greenhouse gasoline emissions over the following three a long time.
The legislation requires all state companies to contemplate local weather impacts, and whereas its passage was heralded as historic by its supporters, there’s nonetheless some query about how it will be utilized. However sure current selections, together with the rejection of a fast-track approval for the growth of a propane terminal in Windfall, have lent weight to the legislation.
Within the ruling on the propane terminal, the state Vitality Facility Siting Board stated {that a} detailed accounting of emissions impacts could be wanted for an growth of the Sea 3 Windfall propane terminal to be thought-about.
The legal professional Basic’s workplace desires the same accounting completed for the PPL transaction. Would the sale delay present applications that might have an effect on emissions within the state? There must be extra proof exhibiting the ramifications, stated Sarah Rice, of the legal professional basic’s workplace.
In its determination, the utilities division stated efforts round decarbonization are the duty of the Government Local weather Change Coordinating Council, the group of state company administrators and workers tasked with crafting Rhode Island’s local weather change insurance policies. Consideration of the legislation isn’t required by the statute governing the deal between PPL and Nationwide Grid, the division decided.
Rice disagreed.
“There may be not time to attend for specific steering from a board about what every company should do,” she stated.
Gerald Petros, a lawyer for PPL, stated his consumer had made a dedication to persevering with Nationwide Grid’s power effectivity and renewable power applications and also will give you a decarbonization report inside a 12 months of the transaction closing.
Furthermore, he stated, there was ample proof submitted in the course of the division’s assessment exhibiting that PPL’s sensible grid platform for getting power the place it’s wanted, which Petros described as nation-leading, would assist combine extra renewables and that the corporate’s superior meters would reduce down on waste.
“We’ve the expertise, we have now the expertise, that you simply want, that Rhode Island wants for its decarbonization efforts,” Petros stated, paraphrasing testimony PPL CEO Vincent Sorgi gave to the division.
Rhode Island
An appreciation of Joe Biden; RI’s underpaid doctors | Letters
Thank you, Joe Biden
Trump has learned that if he tells lies often enough and loudly enough, they will be believed. He keeps repeating that Joe Biden has been a terrible president.
In fact, President Biden has accomplished much. He tackled the COVID crisis by helping hospitals get supplies, getting COVID vaccines distributed, making free testing kits available, sending checks to all Americans, and helping people return to work and students return to school.
He revitalized the U.S. participation in NATO and supported Ukraine vs. Putin.
He recognized climate change and rejoined the rest of the world in battling its effects.
He appointed the first Black female Supreme Court justice.
He initiated projects to improve the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
He oversaw the U.S. economy’s rebound from the pandemic.
The list goes on.
But, best of all, he stopped the daily flow of lies that had been streaming from the White House.
Cindy Kaplan, West Warwick
Better compensation for doctors
What is happening to the health-care system in America? The quality of care seems to be diminishing. One of the reasons is the abysmally poor salaries we pay to our medical residents and fellows, doctors who have already spent years in medical school and are now honing their skills in hospitals throughout the country.
The problem is especially acute in Rhode Island where these young doctors are paid an average of less than $70,000 per year at our hospitals (“Resident doctors make union bid,” News, Nov. 21).
How can these doctors’ patients and hospital management expect them to excel while trying to survive on such meager wages for four to seven years of residency and fellowship, especially with the high cost of housing in Rhode Island and with their average quarter-million-dollar student loan debts?
The only thing that keeps at bay the hounds who are constantly calling for the nationalization of our health-care system is that our country provides the best medical care in the world. Nationalization would destroy our system as it has done in the UK and Canada.
Poor pay and overly arduous working conditions foisted upon residents and fellows in the U.S. will lead to fewer quality doctors entering the profession. Nationalization will eventually follow.
I have opposed unions in the past, but when we pay our young doctors less than what we pay electrical and plumbing apprentices, something is terribly wrong.
If we want our citizens to continue receiving the world’s best medical care, we better start properly compensating residents and fellows and allowing them a bit of time off. Otherwise, they will enter other professions and the quality of medical care in America will deteriorate to that provided by nationalized health systems.
Lonnie Barham, Warwick
Saving RI’s forests
Many environmentalists are concerned about the upcoming administration being filled with individuals who do not take climate change seriously. While, unfortunately, these next four years will probably take us backwards in the fight against climate change, we can still protect the environment here in Rhode Island.
Currently, Rhode Island is the only state in New England with no protected forests on state-owned land. Rare and endangered species are threatened due to their habitats being destroyed by DEM and solar developers through forest clear-cutting.
By joining the Save Rhode Island’s Forests Campaign, you can help in the effort to get legislation passed to create laws to finally protect our state forests and endangered species. In Rhode Island, you can save the environment.
Nathan Cornell, Warwick
The writer is president of the Rhode Island Old Growth Tree Society.
Rhode Island
Police recover watch belonging to Travis Kelce in Rhode Island following break-in of his mansion: report
A watch belonging to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was reportedly found over 1,000 miles away from his Kansas mansion that was broken into last month.
The homes of Kelce and teammate Patrick Mahomes were burglarized last month shortly before one of their games — Kelce’s house is in Leawood, Kansas, while Mahomes’ residence is in nearby Belton, Missouri.
The watch was recovered in Providence, Rhode Island, where Kelce’s girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift, also owns a home.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
NFL players were cautioned by the league to be on high alert after the homes were broken into last month in a wave of burglaries reportedly tied to international organized crime. It was eventually revealed that $20,000 in cash was taken from Kelce’s home.
In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, the NFL issued a security alert to teams and the NFL Players Association, warning that professional athletes in different sports have become “increasingly targeted for burglaries by organized and skilled groups.”
Law enforcement officials say the suspects conduct extensive surveillance on their targets’ homes and have even posed as groundskeepers or joggers. Some have even attempted home deliveries.
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The memo urged players to take special precautions, including installing home security systems. They were also encouraged not to post live updates of their comings and goings on social media or showcase their expensive items online.
“Obviously, it’s frustrating, disappointing. I can’t get into too many of the details because the investigation is still ongoing, but, obviously, it’s something that you don’t want to happen to really anybody, but obviously yourself,” Mahomes said last week.
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The Chiefs suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday, falling to the Buffalo Bills after winning their first nine games.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Rhode Island
Travis Kelce’s watch found in Rhode Island after Kansas City mansion was burglarized of $20K in cash: report
Travis Kelce’s stolen watch was reportedly found in Providence, RI, this week after the NFL star’s mansion in Leawood, Kan., was burglarized last month.
Sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News Friday that a watch taken from Kelce’s residence — and not previously disclosed to the public — was recovered.
Details have yet to be revealed on what type of timepiece was stolen or how much it was worth.
Authorities previously shared that the unidentified criminals stole $20,000 cash from Kelce’s home. They did not specify whether any other items were taken at the time.
Sources told ABC News that they think the athlete’s home was specifically targeted — and thoroughly surveyed — before the Oct. 7 burglary.
Just two days before Kelce’s pad was broken into, burglars also raided the home of his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes.
Authorities have theorized the burglars may have targeted the athletes as their public football schedule reveals when they will be away from their residences.
“There is a concern about what happens if the athlete or his/her family members are present,” a security source told the outlet.
The insider shared that the burglars have gained access to Kelce and Mahomes’ houses by “posing as delivery men, maintenance workers or joggers to learn about residences, neighborhoods and security systems.”
Captain Jason Ahring from the Leawood, Kan., Police Department told Page Six that they are not releasing any information pertaining to an open investigation and maintained they will not be commenting.
Meanwhile, a Providence Police Department Public Information Officer told Page Six that they do “not have any record or involvement related to this incident.”
Kelce, 35, has yet to address the crime, but Mahomes, 29, previously expressed how “disappointing” the violation was.
“I can’t get into too many details because the investigation is still ongoing, but it’s obviously something you don’t want to happen to anybody — and obviously yourself,” Mahomes said during a press conference earlier this month.
Meanwhile, a source told Page Six that Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, was “thankful that no one was hurt and that neither of them were home during the robberies.”
Kelce’s home was broken into around 7:30 p.m. local time on Oct. 7 – just 15 minutes before his team kicked off against the New Orleans Saints.
Meanwhile, Mahomes’ mansion was burglarized while he was celebrating Kelce’s 35th birthday on Oct. 5.
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