In the pathway to 100% renewable energy lie electric utilities. Despite some changes to market structure in past decades, most utilities still have enormous market, and political power. How do they wield it, and how does it impact the shift toward cleaner energy?… Read More
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
Sixteen states have policies allowing some form of community renewable energy development. This quarterly update shows the capacity built in states with active programs: Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York. It focuses on programs in investor-owned utility service territory.… Read More
In August 2019, the Director of ILSR’s Energy Democracy initiative visited Taunton, Mass., where the community is hoping their city-owned electric utility will accelerate its progress toward renewable energy. In his presentation, John Farrell shared several powerful stories of what’s possible, including the two key tenets of energy democracy: decentralized energy production and decentralized and democratic management and ownership of the system.… Read More
Minnesota’s community solar program hit 625 megawatts in October 2019, enough to power more than 100,000 homes each year or about half as much capacity as a typical nuclear power plant!… Read More
In this webinar, Institute for Local Self-Reliance Energy Democracy Initiative director John Farrell is joined by Karl Rábago of the Pace Energy and Climate Center to discuss city-level strategies to reduce gas use.… Read More
In this episode of Local Energy Rules, host John Farrell speaks with Kate Harrison, City Council member for Berkeley, Calif., and Sean Armstrong, Zero Net Energy Designer and Managing Principal at Redwood Energy. The three discuss how Berkeley’s gas ban will improve health, save money, and save the climate.… Read More
6 gigawatts of new power generation capacity came online in the second quarter of 2019 — 15 percent of which from small-scale solar installations — in the latest update from ILSR’s Energy Democracy Initiative.… Read More
In the wake of Hurricane Dorian, we revisit our 2018 interview with South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard – who recently used his own solar and storage to go off of the grid for a week. Could distributed solar be the mechanism for a more resilient electric grid?… Read More
