Interconnection and Grid Planning — Episode 179 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 15 Mar 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Sky Stanfield discusses how good interconnection policy and proactive grid planning can capitalize on existing distribution infrastructure for the most cost-effective clean energy transition.… Read More

Who Needs Transmission Wires Anyway? — Episode 175 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 19 Jan 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Dan Juhl develops integrated clean energy projects that combine solar, wind, and/or battery storage. He shares how commercial-scale, hybrid solar and wind systems are a “real match” that can circumvent transmission system concerns.… Read More

By Controlling Transmission, Utilities Corner the Electricity Market — Episode 149 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 2 Feb 2022 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Ari Peskoe discuss how utilities have gained outsized market power by owning transmission infrastructure and how federal regulators could reintroduce competition through targeted regulation.… Read More

Can More Competition Fix an Outdated Energy System? — Episode 146 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 22 Dec 2021 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the Building Local Power Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Chris Villarreal discuss the electricity market and how it insulates utility companies from competition.… Read More

Updating Minnesota’s Dated Distributed Generation Tariff

Date: 1 Oct 2020 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In this testimony sent to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, John Farrell explains why the state’s 2001 distributed generation tariff has come up short and deserves an update.… Read More

Why it’s Short-Sighted to do Centralized Planning in a Decentralizing Electricity Grid

Date: 11 May 2020 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

With financial rewards tied to building big, utilities overlook distributed energy resources like rooftop solar. This essay, written to advise utility regulators in Michigan, has implications for utility resource planning nationwide.… Read More

Report: An Alternative to Electricity Monopolies Enables Communities to Center People and Planet

Date: 19 Feb 2020 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This report examines community choice energy, a policy giving cities and counties the right to purchase energy on behalf of electricity customers. Enabled in 9 states, community choice agencies are revolutionizing the utility model by offering cheaper, cleaner energy that aligns with local goals.… Read More

Letter Supporting an Accurate Value of Solar

Date: 4 Nov 2019 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The following letter to regulators in Kentucky shares ILSR’s experience with value of solar policy, including the key categories of value to assess, the importance of a utility-independent methodology, the tension between accuracy and usefulness in setting prices, and what to expect from previous exercises in other states.… Read More

Ejecting the Power Line Foxes from the Electric Customer Henhouse

Date: 24 Jun 2014 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 2 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The neighbors of the proposed Badger-Coulee high-voltage line in Wisconsin are like those in many other parts of the country, upset that their utility will construct 200-foot steel towers across their region and through their property (they have some other cogent arguments, too). Update January 12, 2015: removed inaccurate reference to transmission company control over regional … Read More

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