---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- APPLIANCE AND EQUIPMENT ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY STANDARDS ACT OF 2021 (Establishes efficiency standards for selected residential and commercial products.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- APPLIANCE AND EQUIPMENT ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY STANDARDS ACT OF 2021 (Establishes efficiency standards for selected residential and commercial products.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 5966"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5966 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Energy", "Property", "Public Utilities", "Water"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bennett", "Carson", "Cortvriend", "Felix", "Handy", "Ruggiero"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-02-26"
last_action: "2021-07-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3eb82e33-e395-4e6e-a69a-e524dba0047d"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "6ab59e1ae3cf8365125c10aeacc9cf31c8de0b7118691f03b4709383838efd07"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5966 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- APPLIANCE AND EQUIPMENT ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY STANDARDS ACT OF 2021 (Establishes efficiency standards for selected residential and commercial products.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5966 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H5966A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **59–8** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bennett — primary (person)
- Carson — primary (person)
- Cortvriend — primary (person)
- Felix — primary (person)
- Handy — primary (person)
- Ruggiero — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-02-26** 02/26/2021 Introduced, referred to House Environment and Natural Resources `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-12** 03/12/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/18/2021)
- **2021-03-18** 03/18/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-06-26** 06/26/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/28/2021)
- **2021-06-26** 06/26/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Placed on House Calendar (06/30/2021)
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (07/01/2021)
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-07-08** 07/08/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-12** 07/12/2021 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3eb82e33-e395-4e6e-a69a-e524dba0047d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).