[Adopted 8-13-1991 by Ch. No. 983 as § 13-7 of
the 1991 Code; amended in its entirety 3-25-2019 by Ch. No. 1952]
A.
Findings.
(1)
Pursuant to § 44-3-3(a)(48)(49) of the Rhode Island General
Laws, residential and manufacturing properties that install renewable
energy systems are exempt from local taxation.
(2)
Pursuant to § 44-5-3(c)–(e) of the Rhode Island General
Laws, commercial renewable energy systems shall be subject to a tangible
tax payment to the municipality through rules and regulations that
have been adopted by the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources for
all commercial renewable energy systems.
(3)
Pursuant to § 44-3-21 of the Rhode Island General Laws,
city or town councils of the various cities and towns may, by ordinance,
exempt from taxation any renewable energy system located in the city
or town.
B.
Action.
(1)
In accordance with § 44-5-3(c) of the Rhode Island General
Laws, the Town of Westerly hereby authorizes its assessor to levy
a tax on renewable energy tangible property as defined in 39-26-5
in accordance with the rules and regulations executed by the Rhode
Island Office of Energy Resources.
(2)
In accordance with § 44-3-21 of the Rhode Island General
Laws, the Town of Westerly hereby exempts from taxation commercial
net-metered renewable energy systems whose sole purpose is to offset
electricity bills and not to sell power back to the electric distribution
system.
(3)
Property owners installing renewable energy systems shall be required
to provide the interconnection application between the renewable energy
developer and the electric distribution company, such as National
Grid or Pascoag Utility, and any documentation of program enrollment,
such as renewable energy growth or net metering enrollment forms,
to the Town indicating if the renewable energy system is net-metered
or if the system is selling a portion or all of the energy produced
back to National Grid under the Renewable Energy Growth Program. A
copy of the final interconnection service agreement executed between
the renewable energy developer and electric distribution company shall
be provided to the city/town prior to construction of the renewable
energy system.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
It is the policy of the Town Assessor to encourage property
improvements relating to energy savings without increasing their assessed
valuation due to this type of construction.
When a property owner begins to do construction on his property,
a building permit is required.
