Newport Comprehensive Land Use Plan - Existing Conditions | Page 175

12 Energy
Energy enables almost all aspects of daily life. Reducing energy use produces not only significant
environmental benefits through reduced greenhouse gas emissions but also reduces costs.
Because of this, energy is closely tied to economic activity. Rhode Island, as a whole, spends
approximately $3.6 billion on power and fuel each year, which leads to the emittance of over
11 million tons of greenhouse gases each year. The Rhode Island energy plan, Energy 2035,
states that the way to reduce energy needs is to merely use energy more efficiently. An example
of this is that the State requires their electric and gas providers to pursue cost-effective and
energy efficient means of energy acquisition before other conventional supply resources. This is
especially important in that the vast majority of the energy used by Newport and the State
comes from out of state fossil fuel sources. The State’s focus on energy efficiency is firmly in line
with the beliefs of the City of Newport.
This chapter focuses on the important topic of energy in Newport, including energy usage in
municipal buildings, energy providers, rene ݅