---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK AND JOBS ACT"
description: "Facilitates the study of thermal energy technology to determine if these goals can be met by the implementation of thermal energy networks in Rhode Island."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 7879"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 7879 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Boylan", "Cortvriend", "Edwards", "Handy", "McGaw"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2026-02-27"
last_action: "2026-06-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9aecc500-4ebe-4e2e-b778-ab140e9e9662"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "4a253f57037f6d0ee9b50d325f2d3ed32395df91eef717243cf73e52fe9e4912"
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 7879 (2026) — AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK AND JOBS ACT

Facilitates the study of thermal energy technology to determine if these goals can be met by the implementation of thermal energy networks in Rhode Island.

## Version chain

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

1. **7879 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText26/HouseText26/H7879A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **70–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Boylan — primary (person)
- Cortvriend — primary (person)
- Edwards — primary (person)
- Handy — primary (person)
- McGaw — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-27** 02/27/2026 Introduced, referred to House Corporations `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2026-03-13** 03/13/2026 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/19/2026)
- **2026-03-19** 03/19/2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2026-06-05** 06/05/2026 Scheduled for consideration (06/08/2026)
- **2026-06-05** 06/05/2026 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2026-06-08** 06/08/2026 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-06-08** 06/08/2026 Placed on House Calendar (06/09/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-06-09** 06/09/2026 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2026-06-09** 06/09/2026 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/11/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-06-11** 06/11/2026 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2026-06-16** 06/16/2026 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-06-24** 06/24/2026 Effective without Governor's signature `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9aecc500-4ebe-4e2e-b778-ab140e9e9662`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).