Danielle Jameson joined OER in December 2022 as the climate change programs and policy manager. We are thrilled to have her on our team and asked her to introduce herself to our readers.

Please share with us your information about your background.

I graduated from the University at Buffalo with a BS in Environmental Science. I started with the National Park Service at a National Recreation Area in Brooklyn, New York, leading an urban camping program. I then joined the Peace Corps in Peru and worked together with local water committees, helping to provide them the information and resources they needed to supply potable water to their communities. I continued my studies at Tufts University where I earned a master's degree in urban environmental policy and planning. My research focused on climate change adaption in unique environments such as small islands and salt marshes.

Describe what led you to work at OER?

Upon graduating I found myself working at the Environmental Protection Agency managing Brownfields grants. While a great job and a noble cause, I wanted to work more specifically on climate change. This opportunity with OER allowed me to put my schooling into practice while working in an area I am passionate about. 

What do you see as the biggest opportunity for Rhode Island in adopting clean energy?

The biggest opportunity for clean energy is rebuilding the energy system based on equity and justice. We need to be sure that as we transition to clean energy, we are prioritizing the needs and listening to the voices of minority and frontline communities.

Name: Danielle Jameson

Job Title: Climate Change Programs and Policy Manager

Hometown: Queens, NY

Favorite Food: Ravioli

Favorite hobby and/or sport: reading, touring cities, hanging out with friends and family, painting 

Ideal Vacation: Exploring any new place!

A cause or charity that’s important to me: In addition to environmental and climate justice, I am also passionate about advocating for prison reform and immigrant rights. 

Earlier this year, Real Jobs RI launched the first-of-its-kind Rhode Island solar sales training course to prepare students for their certification exam and for a future working in the growing clean energy market. Real Jobs RI, a program of the Department of Labor and Training, ensures that Rhode Island employers have the talent they need to compete and grow by providing targeted education and skills training. This class helped to feed a pipeline of trained electricians to meet our state's future solar needs and will contribute to meeting the Governor's goal of 20,000 clean energy jobs by 2020.

Gail Scanlon, project administrator for Sunwatt Solar, a solar installation company, based in Pawtucket, attended the training from February 26 to March 2 and we recently checked in with her for a career update.

Tell us about what you do at Sunwatt Solar.
Sunwatt is a small company and we all pitch in and perform whatever tasks need doing. I’ve worked on everything from creating brochures and banners to co-teaching a class in solar technology to high-school students. My main responsibilities as project administrator are assembling all the bits and bobs that constitute the “paper side” of a project. I prepare and submit the required documentation for interconnection approval, permitting, and installation–then assemble the completion documents after the install to get the system ready to be energized. Every project is a little different–so flexibility is key. We install in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, so I work with multiple utilities, state and federal agencies and municipalities.

How did you find your way into this field?
I came to the field serendipitously. When I moved back to Rhode Island in 2013, a friend who was getting a new company off the ground offered me a job. It turned out to be a solar company, and I must say being part of the renewable energy industry has proved to be an exciting and rewarding career move.

What opportunities are available in the local solar industry?
Solar PV is a tech heavy environment, but it is not all electricians and engineers. Opportunities are available in many disciplines. As front liners, it is critical that solar has well-trained, well-informed sales consultants. Experienced designers and installers are key, but also project managers/administrators, marketing mavens, and legal experts to keep legislation moving in favor of renewable energy. If you don’t have a technical background, I recommend getting started in an area that aligns with your previous experience. It could be answering phones, lead generation, financial experience or outreach.

What advice do you have for others who are looking to get their start in the growing solar industry?
I would encourage everyone interested in solar to take the Real Jobs RI course. It provides a comprehensive overview of the industry, solar basics, system design and peculiarities specific to installing solar in Rhode Island. I am a hands-on learner, so I enjoyed the system design worksheet exercises. Not surprisingly, I found the classes on actual electricity and tie-in to service panels and fuse sizes the most challenging. The enormous benefit of technicians and sales consultants attending together is each gain valuable insight as to how their side of the project informs the other. The future is bright, batteries and remote community net-metering are on their way – all you need is sun!

The next Real Jobs RI solar training begins in the fall. Stay tuned to this newsletter and the Office of Energy Resources calendar for upcoming training dates when they are announced.

As more homes and businesses install renewable energy projects, communities will generate more of their own local power via solar and wind, potentially reducing demand on the electrical grid. This could mean less need to build poles, wires, and grid infrastructure, saving millions of dollars in costs.

To test this concept, the Office of Energy Resources ran a pilot project in the Rhode Island towns of Tiverton and Little Compton to understand how solar power could mitigate the need to build costly utility infrastructure to meet growing energy demand.

OER launched Solarize campaigns in the two towns which offered competitive tiered pricing to promote the adoption of solar while driving down the costs for all participants. Extra incentives were available to those who installed westward-facing solar panels to generate more electricity at a critical time of peak demand. OER also awarded a grant to a larger “tracking” solar project that changes orientation throughout the day to maximize solar output.

OER worked with National Grid and consultants to evaluate the performance of the solar projects in the two towns over time. The study, which ended this year, revealed that the solar projects successfully increased production during periods of high electricity demand, however, maximum summer peaks still occurred late in the day relative to solar output. These findings are significant because they show that renewable energy can save money not only for system owners, but the entire electric grid system as well, lowering infrastructure costs for all ratepayers. In the future, technologies such as energy storage are expected to help supplement solar energy and extend its benefits after the sun sets.

See the full study here.

Located within the 4,000-acre George Washington Management Area, on the shores of Bowdish Reservoir, the 100-acre George Washington Memorial Camping Area is an overnight, primitive camping facility offering a multitude of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. There are 45 well-spaced gravel sites suitable for tents, trailers and RVs.
  
If you are visiting the campground this season, you will notice that many of the lighting fixtures along the roadways have solar panels mounted on them. These lights operate entirely on 160W solar panels, independent of the power grid. They are extremely efficient too. For every one day of solar charging, the lights can operate for up to four days without a recharge.
  
The project was made possible by the Department of Environment Management in partnership with the Office of Energy Resources and is part of the State's Lead by Example initiative to reduce the state's energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. To learn more, visit our Lead by Example page.

If you have had a free home or business energy audit through National Grid, you have probably met someone from RISE Engineering. RISE serves as the utility’s lead vendor for various energy efficiency programs. Their energy specialists evaluate buildings to identify affordable energy-saving opportunities such as LED lighting solutions, heating and cooling system upgrades, insulation, air leakage sealing and other improvements that reduce energy costs. Their staff also helps utility customers take advantage of available financial incentives and financing options.

RISE offers much more than home energy audits – it provides energy efficiency services to government agencies, cities, towns, colleges and companies. RISE recently worked with the Rhode Island National Guard to replace old lighting fixtures with state-of-the-art LED fixtures in eight buildings. RISE also helped the City of Cranston replace 9,600 streetlights with LEDs and make other energy efficiency improvements to municipal buildings, schools and libraries.

Vincent Graziano, president of RISE, is a graduate of Bryant College and is proud to employ 325 people across New England and New York, including 157 Rhode Islanders. RISE also supports the next generation of energy professionals: it currently employs an undergraduate intern and five graduates from the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension’s Energy Fellows Program. Over the company’s 40-year track record, it has conducted thousands of energy retrofit projects of all types and sizes totaling over $1 billion in energy savings throughout the Northeast.

Located on the south side of Providence, the Meeting Street School is where infants, preschoolers and children of all ages and abilities receive individualized attention from highly trained, dedicated educators.

The Meeting Street solar project consists of a 86.19 kW net metered solar PV installation, that produces approximately 101,757 kWh and over $8,853 in annual energy savings. This project was supported by two grants of $126,750 and $102,309 from the RGGI Solar on Schools program and the Commerce Rhode Island Renewable Energy Fund, respectively. 

Combining these two incentives has allowed Meeting Street to have direct ownership of this project, rather than entering into a PPA or alternative financing structure, resulting in the school receiving 100% of the electricity production benefits. 

To date, this project has produced approximately 161,816 kWh, saving the school close to $30,000 in electricity costs!

In March, Governor  Raimondo announced an ambitious goal to add 1,000 megawatts of clean energy and 20,000 clean energy jobs to Rhode Island by the end of 2020. Meeting Street School is just one example of the types of projects that are contributing to this goal.

Back-to-school season is here!
This month, we are highlighting the Rocky Hill School in Warwick, which not only has a rooftop solar array generating clean power for the building, but also uses the array in the classroom as an educational tool.
The project, installed by Newport Renewables on the Alan Flynn Jr. Upper School Building, includes 120 solar panels, which produces 41,000 kWh/year.

• The solar PV array provides 20 percent of the building’s annual electricity.
• Over the next 25 years, the system will offset 725 tons of CO2, the equivalent of 24 acres of trees being planted.
• In total, the system will generate 1,950,000 kWh of electricity, which will offset power generated from fossil fuels.
• Students have access to the system monitoring website and meteorological grade weather station to enhance their learning.

In March, Governor Raimondo announced an ambitious goal to add  1,000 megawatts of clean energy and 20,000 clean energy jobs to Rhode Island by the end of 2020. Rocky Hill School is just one example of the types of projects that are contributing to this goal.

On Veterans Day, hundreds of people from all over Rhode Island gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the new Veterans Home in Bristol.

The new state-of-the-art facility, which houses 208 veterans, replaces the previous Veterans Home built in 1955.

On top of the new Veterans Home is a 168-panel rooftop solar array. With a 43.7 kW capacity, the annual carbon emissions savings from this installation equal driving a car 96,394 miles!

The building also exceeds Rhode Island's energy efficiency code requirements with some of these green enhancements:

• Occupancy and daylight sensors to control lighting use
• Extra building insulation
• Low flow plumbing fixtures that reduce water use by up to 30%
• Automated hot water recirculating systems to optimize energy use
• Use of high solar-reflecting outdoor landscape to reduce the "heat island" effect
• Recycling of 70% of the construction waste

The State's  Lead by Example initiative promotes the adoption of clean energy measures across public sector facilities and state agencies. State and municipal employees are helping to reduce energy costs and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with Rhode Island's economic, energy and environmental goals.

The Rhode Island Army National Guard (RIARNG) has been busy since 2016, replacing inefficient, dated lighting with state-of-the-art LED fixtures in its facilities statewide.

The new LED fixtures feature occupancy and daylight sensors to ensure that they are turned off when they are not needed to help conserve energy.

The first two facilities, completed in 2016, decreased their energy use by 44 percent compared to the baseline year, and have resulted in a 34 percent reduction in energy costs. RIARNG is also planning on converting three other facilities within the coming months, and is going to be completing a full exterior lighting retrofit on its largest site, the Camp Fogarty Regional Training Site, located in East Greenwich.

RIARNG utilized funding from multiple programs including the Rhode Island Public Energy Partnership, as well as incentives from National Grid to reduce the cost of its projects.

The State's Lead by Example initiative promotes the adoption of clean energy measures across public sector facilities and state agencies. State and municipal employees are helping to reduce energy costs and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with Rhode Island's economic, energy and environmental goals.