SECTION 1. Title 23 of the General Laws entitled "HEALTH AND SAFETY" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 23-27.5-1. Definitions. As used in this chapter:
(1) “Benchmarking information” means information generated by the benchmarking tool as herein defined, including information about the physical property and its operational characteristics. The information shall include, but need not be limited to:
(i) Property address;
(ii) Primary use type;
(iii) Gross floor area;
(iv) Annual energy use;
(v) Source energy use intensity (EUI); site EUI, weather normalized source EUI, and weather normalized site EUI;
(vi) Annual greenhouse gas emissions; and
(vii) Compliance or noncompliance with this statute.
(2) “Benchmarking tool” means ENERGY STAR portfolio manager, the internet-based tool developed and maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to track and assess the relative energy performance of buildings nationwide. Should ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager become unavailable for any reporting year(s), the reporting obligations herein shall be suspended until such time it is again available or a comparable alternative is designated by the office of energy resources ("OER").
(3) “Campus” means two (2) or more buildings that are served by shared utility services and predominantly used for health care, research or higher education purposes.
(4) “Covered property” means all residential and non-residential buildings and campuses containing twenty-five thousand (25,000) or more gross square feet defined herein and identified by the relevant municipal tax assessor's database.
(5) “Dwelling unit” means a single residential unit consisting of one or more rooms, occupied or arranged to be occupied as a residential unit separate from all other residential units within a building, and used primarily for residential purposes and not primarily for professional or commercial purposes.
(6) “Energy” means electricity, natural gas, steam, hot or chilled water, heating oil, or other product for use in a building, or renewable electricity generation, for purposes of providing heating, cooling, lighting, water heating, or for powering or fueling other end-uses in the building and related facilities.
(7) “ENERGY STAR” means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program related to improving energy efficiency in buildings and products.
(8) “Gross square feet” means the gross floor area of the property as defined by the U.S. EPA portfolio manager.
(9) “Owner” means:
(i) An individual or entity designated in the records of the local municipal tax assessor as the owner of a covered property;
(ii) An agent authorized by law to act on behalf of the owner of a covered property;
(iii) In the case of a condominium, the person or persons authorized by law to act on behalf of the condominium association or its board of directors, managers or trustees; and/or
(iv) In the case of a cooperative, the person or persons authorized by law to act on behalf of the cooperative.
(10) “Site energy” means the annual amount of all the energy each property consumes onsite, regardless of the source. It not only includes energy purchased from a utility or in bulk, but also renewable energy generated and consumed onsite such as from solar or wind (excess renewable energy generated onsite is excluded from site energy use). Site energy can be used to understand how the energy use for an individual property has changed over time.
(11) “Source energy” means the total amount of raw fuel that is required to operate the property. Source EUI ("energy use intensity") is source energy divided by the property's gross floor area. In addition to what the property consumes onsite, source energy includes losses that take place during generation, transmission, and distribution of the energy, thereby enabling a complete assessment of energy consumption resulting from building operations. Source energy shall be used to understand the complete energy impact of each property and compare the energy performance across covered properties in the program.
(12) "Tenant" means a person or entity leasing, occupying or holding over possession of a covered property or municipal property.
(13) "Utility" means an entity that distributes, supplies, or transmits energy to covered properties. 23-27.5-2. Establishment. There is hereby established a building energy reporting program for covered properties. The office of energy resources ("OER"), established pursuant to the provisions of § 42-140-2, shall be responsible for reporting this information to the public in order to provide transparency to the marketplace. 23-27.5-3. Benchmarking required for covered properties.
(a) Owners of covered properties shall input annual energy use from January 1 through December 31 of the previous calendar year and all other descriptive information required by the benchmarking tool, into the benchmarking tool, according to the following schedule:
(1) For buildings that contain fifty thousand (50,000) or more gross square feet, no later than May 15, 2028 and by every May 15 thereafter; and
(2) For buildings that contain twenty-five thousand (25,000) to forty-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine (49,999) gross square feet, no later than May 15, 2030, and by every May 15 thereafter.
(b) Following the receipt of a certificate of occupancy, a new covered property that has not yet accumulated twelve (12) months of energy use data by the first applicable reporting deadline shall comply with building energy benchmarking reporting requirements herein beginning May 15 following the first full calendar year of building occupancy. 23-27.5-4. Notification of covered properties.
(a) Between September 15 and December 15 of each year, beginning in 2027, the OER shall notify owners of covered properties of their obligation to input energy use into the benchmarking tool. By January 31 of each year beginning in 2028, the OER shall post a list of the addresses of covered properties. The list shall be published on the OER’s webpage.
(b) The OER shall host an annual online information session for building owners to provide information about updated policies and procedures, as well as provide information related to the provisions of this program.
(c) In 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2029, in anticipation of expanding requirements under this section, the OER shall host multiple information sessions for building owners, municipalities and other interested parties. These may be held through organizations such as the league of cities and towns or other associations, as may be helpful to conduct outreach to interested parties. 23-27.5-5. Exemptions.
(a) An owner of an otherwise "covered property" may seek an exemption from the requirements of this chapter for a reporting year if any of the following conditions apply:
(1) None of the property was occupied for the entire calendar year required to be benchmarked;
(2) A demolition permit for the entire property was issued and demolition work commenced during the calendar year; or
(3) The property did not receive energy services for the entire calendar year required to be benchmarked.
(b) Applications for exceptions can be filed with the commissioner of the OER, using a form created by the OER, and with all relevant supporting documentation included and notarized prior to submission. Waivers shall be granted or denied at the discretion of the commissioner of the OER. 23-27.5-6. Provision and publication of benchmarking information.
(a) Owners shall annually provide benchmarking information to the OER, in such form as established by the OER, by the date provided by the schedule in § 23-27.5-3.
(b) No later than December 31, 2027, and thereafter by December 31 of each year, the OER shall deliver a summary report on the program to the general assembly and then publish the report on the OER's webpage. The report shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Benchmarking information for each covered property, as defined in § 23-27.5-1, for the current year;
(2) Progress against baseline year data from intervening years for both energy use and greenhouse gas emissions; and
(3) Covered properties' compliance status with the energy assessment or actions requirements described in this chapter. 23-27.5-7. Direct upload. Owners of covered properties may authorize an energy utility or other third party to report building-specific energy data on their behalf to the OER. Such authorization shall not remove the obligation of property owners to comply with reporting requirements. 23-27.5-8. Municipal implementation of building energy benchmarking requirements. In the case of a municipality that has initiated a comparable building energy benchmarking requirement prior to the enactment of this chapter, the municipality may continue the program in lieu of the benchmarking requirements to be established by the OER. In such case, the municipality shall notify the OER of such intent within one hundred eighty (180) days of the enactment of this chapter and shall provide benchmarking data annually thereafter. 23-27.5-9. Enforcement.
(a) The OER shall develop a series of incentives for participation in the benchmarking program which may include:
(1) Participation required prior to applying for available grant funding from the OER, or grants from any state agency or the RI infrastructure bank that are directed towards supporting building benchmarking and decarbonization efforts;
(2) Participation certification in public forums, websites, and a logo that may be displayed on a building’s website and/or front door; and
(3) Other incentives that the OER may develop through regulation.
(b) The OER may promulgate rules and regulation to carry out the purposes of this chapter to include, enforcement mechanisms that may include escalating warnings and fines that may be imposed no earlier than May 15, 2031. 23-27.5-10. Severability. If any provision of this chapter shall be held to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, then such provision shall be considered separately and apart from the remaining provisions, which shall remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
