The General Assembly finds that:

(1)  The people and energy users of Rhode Island have an interest in having electricity supplied in the state come from a diversity of energy sources including renewable resources;

(2)  Increased use of renewable energy may have the potential to lower and stabilize future energy costs;

(3)  Increased use of renewable energy can reduce air pollutants, including carbon dioxide emissions, that adversely affect public health and contribute to global warming;

(4)  Massachusetts, Connecticut, and other states have established renewable energy standard programs to encourage the development of renewable energy sources;

(5)  It is in the interest of the people, in order to protect public health and the environment and to promote the general welfare, to establish a renewable energy standard program to increase levels of electrical energy supplied in the state from renewable resources.