renewable energy rhode islandan ocean state energy publication

top story · offshore wind · sept 27, 2026

revolution wind, measured from the shore.

Sixty five turbines are standing in federal waters south of block island, the biggest thing rhode island has ever bolted to the seabed. after a federal stop work order last summer and the court fight that lifted it, the project is sending power to the grid. here is what it took, and what it changes.

By the Renewable Energy Rhode Island editors8 min read

read the story see the numbers
Chart style illustration of five offshore wind turbines standing in block island sound, drawn as navigational soundings with a compass rose, dashed bearing lines, and depth dots on chart paper
five turbines stood here first, in 2016. sixty five more now stand nearby. the chart keeps the count.
704 MW

revolution wind, nearing full completion off the south county coast this year.

enough for on the order of 350,000 homes, per the developer
400 MW

rhode island's share under a 20 year contract approved by state regulators in 2019.

the standard shows up as a line on your bill
100%

the state's renewable electricity standard: every megawatt hour sold in rhode island by 2033.

state law, enacted 2022

stories

filed from providence
  • 09.27.26

    revolution wind, measured from the shore

    a 704 megawatt project survived a federal stop work order and reached first power. the read on what it means for the 2033 standard, and for the supply line of your bill.

    offshore wind
  • watch

    the 2033 standard's next compliance round

    state agencies owe the public an updated accounting of how rhode island closes the gap between today's supply and a fully renewable 2033.

    policy
  • watch

    shore power at the port of providence

    tugboats at provport are plugging into the grid instead of idling on diesel. the state's next port electrification filings will set the pace for the working waterfront.

    ports
  • watch

    block island's cable years

    the 2016 line that tied block island to the mainland grid is aging into its first decade. maintenance schedules and cable redundancy are worth a question at town meetings.

    grid

where things stand

the ledger, this week
figures are hedged on purpose; each comes from a public source named in the story
revolution wind 704 MW 65 turbines, first power march 2026, per the developer
block island wind farm 30 MW five turbines, running since december 2016
rhode island's revolution share 400 MW 20 year contract with national grid, approved 2019
state renewable standard 100% by 2033 state law, enacted 2022
regional winter peak ~20 GW iso new england systemwide, rhode island is a small slice
Chart style figure of five horizontal bars aligned on a shared baseline with a scale bar of ticks along the bottom
the state's energy year, read as chart bars: the bronze bar is rhode island's own contract. bars are drawn to relative scale, not to precise megawatts.

illustrations

the harbor chart, kept by hand
Chart style illustration of two port cranes on a quay with a moored tugboat connected by a cable to a shore power box on the dock
shore power at providence: a tug plugged into the quay instead of burning diesel at the dock. the working harbor is quietly electrifying.
Chart style illustration of a large compass rose with a tick ring and three dashed bearing lines leading to ringed waypoint markers
every offshore story starts with a bearing: from the state house, from the port, from your meter. this rose is how we keep our headings straight.
Chart style diagram of a wind farm lease area outlined like a navigational chart with 65 turbine positions marked in a grid
the revolution wind lease, plotted the way a navigator would: every one of the 65 positions marked, the bronze bearing running back to shore.

how we work

the house rules, in the open
rule 01

primary sources only

grid operator pages, government filings, and project companies. no news aggregators, no anonymous tips dressed up as fact. every number on this site traces to a document you can open yourself.

rule 02

hedged numbers, always

schedules slip and estimates move. when a figure could change, we say roughly or on the order of, and we name the source's date. precision we cannot defend is a failure of reporting, not a style choice.

rule 03

the bill is the beat

every story ends at your meter. if a project, program, or docket cannot be explained in terms of what it does to a providence apartment bill or a south county farmhouse rate, we keep reporting until it can.