§ 39-30-1. Findings and purposes. (a) The Rhode Island general assembly finds and declares that:

(1) Taxpayers are mandated to pay the electric distribution company large sums every year to light municipal and many state-owned streets;

(2) Municipalities are limited in how they can manage this public safety resource because they do not own or control the light fixtures within their borders;

(3) There is no incentive in the applicable electric rate tariff for installing energy efficient lighting technologies that may reduce both power and maintenance expenses;

(4) There is no provision in the applicable electric rate tariff for municipalities to work collectively to manage the maintenance of the street lighting system; and

(5) Municipalities around the country have saved considerable resources by purchasing their streetlight systems from electric distribution companies and contracting for the maintenance independently.

(b) Now, therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to reduce municipal street lighting costs and improve service to citizens by:

(1) Improving public safety with street lights that provide better illumination;

(2) Reducing maintenance costs by allowing municipalities to own the street and area lighting within their borders and to enter into regional maintenance service contracts;

(3) Reducing whole-system cost through municipal ownership and regional management and by eliminating the current "facilities charge;"

(4) Providing innovative and proven technologies for more efficient lighting; and

(5) Providing more responsive service for lighting repairs.

History of Section. (P.L. 2013, ch. 245, § 1; P.L. 2013, ch. 367, § 1.)