Want to Strengthen Independent Businesses? Use These Policies (Episode 51)

Host Nick Stumo-Langer is joined by researchers Stacy Mitchell and Olivia LaVecchia to discuss their new guide to policy tools that strengthen independent businesses. … Read More

Release: Solar and Energy Storage Threatens Utility Business Models, Enables Energy Democracy

Date: 17 Jul 2018 | posted in: Press Release | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

What happens to an electric utility when its big bets on new power plants are undercut by customers producing their own power from solar and storing it in cost-effective batteries?

Hundreds of utility power plants could become stranded assets if electric customers pursue these affordable alternatives to utility provided power, undercutting a century of the traditional “bigger is better” electric utility business model. The latest report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance details how battery storage literally and figuratively reverses the grid’s power flow and puts customers in charge. It offers policymakers, utilities, and individuals a roadmap of rules to capture this opportunity for energy democracy and save everyone money.… Read More

Public Banking in the Spotlight in this Vice Feature, ILSR Banking Expert Quoted

Date: 16 Jul 2018 | posted in: Media Coverage | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In the story from Vice titled, “The Big Bank You’re Using Is Probably Ripping You Off,” reporter Allie Conti dives deep into the myriad ways that the biggest banks in our economy harm their members and the wider economy as a whole. For her coverage, Conti also wanted to include the alternative structures, including public banking.

For this section she reached out to ILSR co-director and Community-Scaled Economy initiative director Stacy Mitchell, we’ve included her contributions in this article.… Read More

Amazon’s New Path to Monopoly Is Through Your Local Government (Episode 50)

Date: 12 Jul 2018 | posted in: Building Local Power, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

On ILSR’s Building Local Power podcast, Stacy Mitchell and Olivia LaVecchia discuss their new report on Amazon’s push into government procurement. “We’ve found that this contract is yet another tool for Amazon to suppress competition, and is a particularly pernicious way to use local governments to facilitate their market power.”… Read More

Energy Democracy Media Roundup — Week of July 9, 2018

Date: 10 Jul 2018 | posted in: Energy | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This week in Energy Democracy news: Massachusetts faces a big decision on battery energy storage incentives; Ashland, Oregon boosts electric vehicles in their community; a Colorado program is enabling low-income households to benefit from renewable energy; and Atlanta looks toward a 100% renewable goal, the first from a major city in the Southeast U.S.… Read More

Release: Amazon’s National Contract to Supply Local Governments Puts Cities and Schools at Risk, ILSR Report Finds

Date: 10 Jul 2018 | posted in: Press Release | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A national contract that Amazon secured last year to provide local governments with office and classroom supplies lacks standard safeguards to protect public dollars and public transparency, and puts cities and schools at risk of paying more and getting less, according to an investigation published today by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR). View more information from our press release.… Read More

Webinar: Shifting Power from Utilities to Consumers via Solar Plus Batteries

Date: 6 Jul 2018 | posted in: Energy | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The webinar –– Wednesday, July 18th @ 2 p.m. CT –– will cover the powerful upending of the electricity market structure on the doorstep, the implications for centrally planned power systems, and the policies that align market rules with the democratizing power of solar and energy storage.… Read More

Next City Covers the Movement Toward Public Banking in Los Angeles, Relies on ILSR Data

Date: 30 Jun 2018 | posted in: Media Coverage | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

At the end of June, the Los Angeles City Council voted to add a ballot initiative for this fall to enable public banking to ensure that all Angelenos are banked with sufficient protections. For this article in Next City, Alejandra Molina reached out to ILSR co-director and Community-Scaled Economy initiative director Stacy Mitchell to answer questions on the benefits of community banking.… Read More

The Huge Supreme Court Cases You May Have Missed (Episode 49)

Date: 28 Jun 2018 | posted in: Building Local Power, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Guest host Nick Stumo-Langer and ILSR co-director Stacy Mitchell discuss two recent Supreme Court cases that have vast implications for the state of our economy and the role of the court as a centralized entity in ILSR’s decentralized worldview.… Read More

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