Long before the coronavirus pandemic shed light on the chronic injustices embedded in the U.S. energy system, the George Wiley Center in Rhode Island was focused on utility justice.
Rhode Island, in 2018, consumed 8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, according to the most-recent data available from the Office of Energy Resources. Of those hours, about a billion were emissions-free.
Environmental injustices and the apathetic attitudes that allow them to fester collide head-on in two neighborhoods along Providence's toxic waterfront.