What would happen if the U.S. adopted the world’s flagship solar energy policy – a feed-in tariff? This policy is responsible for three-quarters of the world’s solar power capacity and offers the simplest mechanism for expanding production of solar power and other renewable energy. Pricing CLEAN Contracts for Solar PV in the U.S. explores how such … Read More
What would happen if the U.S. adopted the world’s flagship solar energy policy – a feed-in tariff? This policy is responsible for three-quarters of the world’s solar power capacity and offers the simplest mechanism for expanding production of solar power and other renewable energy. Pricing CLEAN Contracts for Solar PV in the U.S.explores how such a … Read More
Thanks to innovative energy policy, residents of Ontario can invest in local solar power projects by buying SolarShare bonds. The $1,000 bond provides a 5% annual return over five years and the money is invested in solar power projects across the province (as the chart below shows, this beats a savings account with 0.8% interest or even a 5-year U.S. treasury, with 0.91% interest).… Read More
The Germans have installed over 10,000 megawatts of solar panels in the past two years, enough to power 2 million American homes (most of Los Angeles, CA). If Americans installed local solar at the same torrid pace, we could already power most of the Mountain West, could have a 100 percent solar nation by 2026, while … Read More
Just a reminder that while Texas swelters and its electric grid sags, rooftop solar PV alone could meet 35 percent of the state’s electricity needs. Map from Energy Self-Reliant States: State Potential Rooftop PV: Not only is the potential high, but the cost is low. The levelized cost of solar is just 14 cents per kilowatt-hour … Read More
If you’ve ever wondered how to explain to someone what ILSR brings to renewable energy policy, look no further. This 16-slide presentation lays out our history, philosophy and out-sized impact fighting for greater local authority and economic returns from renewable energy:
Find out why and how ILSR has been helping communities maximize the value of their local energy resources for nearly 40 years: ILSR’s Remarkable Energy Self-Reliant States and Communities program View more presentations from John Farrell
Distributed solar has an edge in the speed with which it will respond to financial incentives, he says. The private sector will begin to install solar panels in response to a feed-in tariff much more quickly than developers of large solar projects can negotiate power-purchase agreements with utilities and win regulatory approval from the government.
J.R. DeShazo, director of UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation
A 50-turbine wind farm in Goodhue County in southeastern Minnesota has met with stiff local resistance, a frequent tale in the wind industry. Recently, the project developer won a key court case to move forward, after making concessions about the distance (“setback”) between the wind farm and local homes. However, many residents remained unconvinced that the project was in their best interest.
But today the project developers offered $10,000 payments (over 20 years) to about 200 local residents to try to win them over. The concept might work, although the payments – $500 per year – aren’t particularly large.
In a recent European study, researchers found that citizens generally have two priorities for renewable energy projects: avoiding environmental and personal harm and sharing in the economic benefits from their local energy resources. The $10,000 checks could go a long way toward satisfying local residents that they aren’t being simply colonized for their wind resource.
Will it work?
The wind project had already been certified as “community-based” under a 2005 state statute, but local opponents contested that a wind farm development by a company owned by Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens hardly qualified. It remains to be seen whether a more significant a direct benefit for nearby residents is enough to buy their support.
