Un-Affordability: Speaker Blazejewski’s Budget Denies Science, Will Raise Energy Costs for Ocean Staters … but Center Claims One Major Victory
Despite common-sense energy reforms suggested by Governor McKee; despite pledged reforms by all other New England states; and despite indisputable research that shows how Rhode Island’s net zero emissions energy strategy will lead to unaffordable costs and dangerous risks … the budget put forth by the new Speaker of the RI House of Representative, Christopher Blazejewski … doubles-down on the state’s radical Act On Climate mandates.
Based on research co-authored by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity (Center), Governor Dan McKee proposed common-sense energy relief proposals to cut the gas tax, delay renewable energy mandates until 2050, and scale back costly energy regulations. However, Blazejewski’s budget not only rejects all the Governor’s modest recommendations … it also expands green energy mandates and increases proposed climate change bonds by millions of dollars. The budget further preserves the full suite of other existing mandates, wasteful subsidies, and regulatory burdens on utilities and ratepayers that drive up electricity costs for everyone in our state.
But one recommendation by the Center and its partners in the New England Coalition for Freedom (NECF) was included in the energy portion of the budget … the expanded definition of qualified renewable energy sources to include nuclear power.
Just three years ago, nuclear energy was considered politically dead in New England. The region closed five nuclear plants from 1992-2019. Advanced nuclear energy was a political nonstarter. With the exception of New Hampshire, every state was fully committed to replacing all non-renewable energy sources with wind, solar, hydro, batteries, and biomass. Alternative energy mandates enjoyed broad political support, while nuclear carried decades of stigma, and related free-market organizations making the nuclear argument were routinely dismissed.
Yet early this year, shortly after the release of NECF’s second major energy report, all six New England governors signed a joint letter committing their states to exploring nuclear power. New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte’s executive order in this regard specifically confirmed that her order was directly prompted by NECF’s research.
“The inclusion of nuclear power as a renewable source of energy is a clear victory for our Center and our entire NEFC coalition. Natural gas pipeline capacity should also be expanded,” commented Mike Stenhouse, CEO of the Center. “However, it is a tragedy for all RI families and businesses that Speaker Blazejewski refuses to recognize the science and the reality that every New England governor recognizes – that Democrats’ climate-change fanaticism will impose severe costs and restrictions on all ratepayers and motorists – and must be scaled back.”
NECF, a joint effort of free-market organizations representing the New England states, helped to engineer this regional nuclear turnaround by undertaking two landmark energy studies supported by a sustained, coordinated multi-state advocacy and education effort over multiple years. The 2024 study documented that the region’s existing alternative energy NetZero by 2050 mandates would cost regional ratepayers an additional $815 billion through 2050 — more than doubling the average family’s electricity bill — and would cause rolling blackouts. The January 2026 study, “Alternatives to New England’s Energy Affordability Crisis,” modeled three lower-cost, reliable alternatives showing that nuclear and natural gas portfolios could save regional ratepayers between $400 billion and $708 billion compared to the NetZero by 2050 mandate, without the blackout risk.
This body of research became the catalyst for a documented, multi-state policy shift — reframing the regional energy debate from an ideological argument about “clean energy” to a concrete, data-driven conversation about affordability, reliability, and real costs. That reframing produced documented results in every state.
In Rhode Island, following the coalition’s January 2026 report, in addition to signing the letter committing to exploring nuclear energy, Governor Dan McKee proposed significant rollbacks to Rhode Island’s Renewable Energy Standard in his FY2027 budget and State of the State address, including delaying the 100% renewable electricity target from 2033 to 2050 and expanding eligibility to include nuclear. The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity’s ensuing petition calling for affordable energy solutions quickly gathered over 1,000 signatures, forcing then Speaker of the House Shekarchi to publicly attempt to downplay the voice of the people. Even the energy-alarmist-leaning special Senate Commission evaluating the Act on Climate invited CEO Stenhouse to present the NECF’s report findings.
Leaders from every other New England state, in addition to the joint letter, either recognized NECF’s findings or suggested policy changes that reflect documented concerns about the costs and viability of their respective and overly-ambitious net zero state strategies.
Unfortunately, Speaker Blazejewski denies reality and is committed to driving the Ocean State off an ocean cliff … and compliant Democrats will blindly follow him into the sea.
