01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, February 15, 2006

WHEN SAMUEL SLATER built the mill that launched the American Industrial Revolution, in 1793, he sited it on the Blackstone River, in Pawtucket, because the river's waters provided the power needed to run the textile machinery. Sam Slater did not insist upon the Merrimack or the Potomac. He did not insist upon the best source of water power in the region. He did not let the perfect become the enemy of the good. Rather, he recognized an opportunity. He saw an energy source, and he used it.

Two centuries later, Rhode Island again has the opportunity to harness an indigenous and renewable source of energy: the wind.

Until recently, wind power has been promoted as an "alternative" source of energy, one that is less polluting than traditional sources of energy, such as oil, gas and coal. The environmental benefits are real, but the economic benefits are also becoming clear.

Conditions have changed over the past few years. Even before Hurricane Katrina, energy prices were increasing steadily and significantly. While there is plenty of debate about how much supply is available, one thing is clear: Demand is rising sharply as India and China industrialize. Their current use of fossil fuels is lower than the United States's, but their appetite is far greater.

One of the chief economic benefits of wind power is that it serves to diversify the energy supply upon which the people, the businesses and the institutions of the state rely. Wind power is economically important not because it is less costly than fossil fuels (as in some instances it may be) but because it provides diversity and reduces the state's reliance upon out-of-state sources -- which removes some of Rhode Island's vulnerability to outside market and political forces. Wind power therefore makes sense for both economic and environmental reasons.

An added benefit is that wind supply tends to peak at the same time that demand is at its peak, during cold and windy winter nights, or hot summer days, when there is a consistent sea breeze. This meteorological phenomenon reduces the demand for natural gas during peak hours, when the price of natural gas is also at its highest. Additionally, wind generation would be disbursed at different points in the electricity grid, making for more efficient distribution to consumers, who would be closer to the source of energy production.

The General Assembly has taken an important first step in this regard, with passage into law in 2004 of a bipartisan Senate initiative that gradually increases the state's reliance on renewable energy to 16 percent by 2020.

It is time to take the next logical step. The first action in that process should be to establish fair and consistent rules for the development of wind power.

Getting serious about wind power demands that we put in place a reliable commitment for financing and predictable rules for siting, so that developers of the technology can determine if it is a good investment for them. If every financing decision is uncertain, and every potential site is tentative, Rhode Island is not going to look attractive to developers of wind power.

To get people to pay attention to Rhode Island, fair rules must come first.

The opposite approach, which has been advocated in recent weeks, is to identify potential sites, then determine if anyone is interested in developing those sites. Unfortunately, that approach will do little to create a favorable market for the installation of wind turbines. More likely, the site-first approach will unify and mobilize opposition to particular proposals, resulting in impediments, delays and inaction.

For progress to be made, fair rules must come first.

The Senate has been hard at work on a comprehensive energy strategy that includes the use of renewable energy as a key component. Together with our colleagues in the House Corporations Committee, the Senate Committee on Financial Services, Technology and Regulatory Issues, and the Senate Committee on Environment and Agriculture held an energy summit in November that examined many issues relative to energy and energy assistance. A recently released report from the summit can be viewed online at the General Assembly's Web site, HYPERLINK (http://www.rilin.state.ri.us).

Sen. William A. Walaska, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski, chairwoman of the Environment Committee, and others will introduce a comprehensive package of energy bills in the coming weeks, during which much of what was learned or reinforced during the energy hearings will be applied through legislation.

Wind power and other renewable sources of energy are an important part of securing long-term stability in Rhode Island's energy marketplace. As consumers of energy -- businesses and residential customers alike -- look for an answer to skyrocketing prices, perhaps we can take some guidance from the words of Bob Dylan: "The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind."

Joseph A. Montalbano is president of the Rhode Island Senate.