Changing the subject when clearly caught in a lie. Classic right wing tactic.

That's not how it is for me. No commitment, and I pay the current RIE rate minus 10% every month. I'm signed up with a community solar project though; do they have a different program like you're describing?

So then doesn't that invalidate what you just said about being in the RI subreddit and only talking about RI taxes?

Wait are you really going to say that you meant state income tax is a person's biggest expense? That 3.75% is the biggest line item in anyone's budget?

Good to know, thank you

Fyi I think you might have replied to my comment when you intended to reply to the post itself

Hah, fair. But op said they're installing solar, so I'm guessing they own the building.

> f it plugs in (and isn't hard-wired)

It legally should be hardwired.

But there are non-contact clamp meters that can measure current without having to change any wiring.

e.g. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-400-Amp-AC-DC-Digital-Clamp-Meter-Auto-Ranging-CL390/312649921

> is it Arcadia that’s basically the ponzi or are they not around anymore

They are around and I use them. I don't know about being a ponzi though, it's more like arbitrage with renewable energy credits which is its own form of semi-scummy, but it's also the best option I've been able to find.

Yes, RIE has a monopoly on distribution, but we can choose our supplier.

Because of RIE's semi-monopoly, there's a Public Utility Council that is supposed to oversee and regulate the amount of profit RIE is allowed to make on the distribution. It was previously 5% profit, but I think it was recently increased to 7.5%, but they don't make it easy to find that rate for some reason.......

They do!!! https://www.energysage.com/energy-products/energy-monitors/

They just clamp around the wire in your panel so you can read each circuit's current without having to actually change any wiring.

Or for even cheaper to just help you go hunting leakages instead of a more permanent install to monitor over time, a clamp meter like this $15 Harbor Freight one would work: https://www.harborfreight.com/digital-clamp-meter-96308.html

The good news is that presumably your solar array is sized for your current use, so once it's up and running, you can find and plug those holes to use less and sell more back to RIE!

For sure. Allowing private individuals to voluntarily spend their own money to install and maintain solar on their own property that gets sent to the grid should be a no-brainer for greening our grid.

Instead, we're stuck thinking about the grid as only moving power from central generation to consumers, when it really should be moving to a store-and-release model...capture grid-scale power during the day, then release it at night. Eventually, the grid should end up netting out to close to 0 power produced.

Guess you're not a narcoleptic then

Dang yeah idk, it does seem like a lot of electricity disappearing. I work from home and have a couple always-on PCs and media server.

Because you randomly fall asleep throughout the day?

> I feel like we don’t even use very much electricity.

That's all relative, right? My most recent bill was $124 for 416kWh, so in relation to me, you're using quite a bit.

But I have NG heat, hot water, stove, and dryer, so those don't hit the electric bill.

Total elec + NG last bill was $392, so if you have electric heat and stuff, then we're in the same ballpark overall.

It's sweet that you have solar coming online (hopefully) soon though!

> copy MA and make groceries tax free outright.

Food is already tax-free in RI. I am suggesting re-adding sales tax to the not-a-staple foods like aren't SNAP eligible.

> I’d just go to whatever that Laffer curve number is for the ideal rate

That's a new term to me, thanks for bringing it up. Reading about it now though, it seems limited. There is more to taxation than raw receipts, and requiring a single rate seems unnecessary. We could exceed the Laffer ideal if we tax different things at different rates, as well as achieve broader societal goals if we tax the poor less than the wealthy, and encourage eating celery over frozen pizza.

Oh good call, yeah that would make sense.

Still makes me wonder what people think their time and gas are worth 0.15%, but to each their own...

If it were up to me, I'd add more sales tax tiers.

Unlike us, CT does normally charge sales tax on clothing but has an annual back-to-school season tax-free week, where clothing under $50/item is tax free. I think it would make perfect sense for us to implement something similar. Instead of all clothing being tax-free all the time, only charge sales tax on individual items over $50 or $100 or something. I see no reason why we need to subsidize higher-end clothing.

Similarly, RI charges the same tax rate on all vehicles but CT has a higher bracket for vehicles over $50,000 (7.75% vs their normal 6.35%). Maybe that dollar limit should be bumped up a bit more for 2023, but I like the idea. No reason the $100,000 Mercedes buyer can't pay a bit more tax. I'd be tempted to add another tier for <$30,000 vehicles to pay lower than normal tax too.

Beyond that, we already have the mechanism in the grocery store that defines what foods are SNAP eligible...the foods that are generally good things to eat. Why not tax the non-SNAP "not good" foods too?

Your user flair in here is "Newport" which may have caused the confusion, if it looked like the post was flaired "Newport" and not you?

Cousin Vitto runs a nice license plate dash removal shop, the state awarded him the contract

Why even bother lowering the sales tax rate? I'm certainly not going to notice saving 0.15%, but the state will feel the hit in aggregate.

If they're willing to take in less sales tax, how about take in less by exempting more categories like OTC contraceptives?

I don't see any reason why the hypothetical $60,000 car needs to be 0.15% cheaper.

Awesome!

Saw your update - was it as easy as I made it seem?