FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 1, 2015 CONTACT: Rebecca Toews rebecca@ILSR.org (612) 808-0689 Public Rooftop Revolution In Public Rooftop Revolution, ILSR estimates that mid-sized cities could install as much as 5,000 megawatts of solar—as much as one-quarter of all solar installed in the U.S. to date—on municipal property, with little to no upfront cash. Solar energy is in the news … Read More
Principles, Structure, and Policies of Energy Democracy Energy democracy can best be described as an electricity system that empowers the individuals and communities that have the energy resources of the 21st century (e.g. wind and solar) to economically benefit from their use. It shares the principles of utility 2.0 – an efficient, low- carbon, and flexible … Read More
Unfortunately for utilities, new technology and commercial opportunities in the coming years will only increase the threat to the 1.0 business model. Solar energy is growing exponentially as costs have fallen 28% per year from 2009-2013, and electricity from rooftops is approaching or passing parity with utility prices.63 This is the third of four parts of ILSR’s … Read More
Aggressive state policy and cost reductions for clean energy have created two business model crises for electric utilities: stagnant sales and exponentially rising production from distributed renewable sources. This is the second of four parts of our Beyond Utility 2.0 to Energy Democracy report being published in serial. To see the first post, click here. Download the entire report … Read More
The U.S. electricity system is undergoing the biggest change in its 130-year history. The scale of electricity generation is rapidly shrinking, from coal and nuclear power plants that can power a million homes to solar and wind power plants that power a few to a few hundred nearby homes. Electricity demand has leveled off, so that … Read More
If you were not able to attend Freedom to Connect in New York on March 2 – 3, you can now view archived video of presentations from Chris and others. Now that the FCC has made a determination that may change the landscape of Internet access, it is time to consider the future of municipal networks. … Read More
This week in Democratic Energy: Why homeowners may want to think twice before leasing solar panels How Germany’s solar success shines — even through solar eclipse New Solar ownership program could be key to distributed local energy surge Find out which Texas city is set to completely embrace clean power! Featured Stories Leased solar panels can complicate … Read More
This article is so good, it was hard not to quote the whole thing. Do yourself a favor and check out the article for yourself– this is exactly why we can’t trust big cable and telephone companies to serve our communities. New Homeowner Has To Sell House Because Of Comcast’s Incompetence, Lack Of Competition by Chris Morran … Read More
FCC Outlines Plan To Crush Awful State Protectionist Broadband Laws: from the it’s-about-time dept by Karl Bode, Tech Dirt While net neutrality rules are designed to protect consumers from a lack of last-mile competition, the agency’s moves on municipal broadband are intended to actually strike at the issue of limited competition at the root. As we’ve noted … Read More
