Communities can do a lot to advance energy democracy, but some tools must be granted by state policy. State legislators create the rules for building local power — supporting locally owned distributed generation, empowering communities to pursue their own goals, and planning for an equitable transition to clean energy. States can also fight corporate control and hold utilities accountable, protecting ratepayers from inflated costs and other abuses of monopoly power.
Glossary
- Community Power Score: a comprehensive evaluation of how the following policies help or hinder local clean energy action. ILSR’s Community Power Scorecard methodology document describes how the individual policies are weighted, explains each of the policies, and provides some model policies that you can advocate for today.
- Net Metering: Rules on compensation for individuals and businesses who produce their own electricity onsite, but do not consume all of what they generate. Click here to learn more about net metering.
- Third Party Ownership: Agreements where a third party owns the solar installation and passes some of the financial return to the host through either a lease or power purchase agreement. Click here to learn more about third party ownership.
- Interconnection: Standards and timelines for connecting renewable energy projects to the electric grid. Click here to learn more about interconnection.
- Hosting Capacity Analysis: Information on how much energy generation or load can be added at any given location on the electric grid. Click here to learn more about hosting capacity analysis.
- Community Solar: Individuals subscribe to a portion of a nearby solar garden and get credits on their utility bill for the electricity it produces.
- Community Choice Energy: Allows cities to choose their energy suppliers on behalf of all residential and small commercial customers. Click here to learn more about community choice energy.
- Franchise Authority: The ability for cities to negotiate their own utility franchise contracts and fees. Click here to learn more about utility franchise authority.
- Gas Ban Preemption: Preempting cities from making their own decisions on electrification ordinances and deciding whether buildings can connect to the gas network.
- Renewable Portfolio Standard: Sometimes called a clean energy standard, it requires that utilities meet certain thresholds of renewable energy in their resource mix.
- Integrated Resource Plan Approval: Utilities must file multi-year power supply plans to be reviewed and approved by state regulators.
- Disallow Construction Work in Progress: Prevents a utility from collecting power plant construction costs before the plant is operational.
- Inclusive Utility Investment: Sometimes called inclusive financing, tariff on-bill financing, or the trademarked Pay As You Save®, supports utility customers making energy-related upgrades to homes or businesses.
- Disconnection Prevention: Protects customers from losing electricity service for nonpayment.
- Intervenor Compensation: Helps non-utilities with the financial burden of participating at the state regulatory commission.
- Disallow Lobbying Cost Recovery: Utilities lobby decision makers at every level of government and, if allowed to do so, recover the costs from customers.
- Disallow Trade Association Dues Cost Recovery: Utilities pay dues to trade associations to maintain their membership and, if allowed to do so, recover the cost of these dues from customers.
- Disallow Charitable Contribution Cost Recovery: Utilities make charitable contributions to local organizations and, if allowed to do so, recover these costs from customers.
- Right of First Refusal: Gives incumbent utilities the exclusive option to build new regional transmission lines through their own territory, rather than soliciting competitive bids to build those lines.