This week in Democratic Energy: Midwest Energy News’ Bentham Paulos’ new analysis of mid-western cities charts different implementations of distributed generation resources. Wisconsin ‘health hazard’ ruling could shock wind industry Texans see long-term benefit in distributed generation. Featured Stories: Beyond Utility 2.0: Part 1 “A prelude to the future” by John Farrell, CleanTechnica Midwest cities pushing … Read More
Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 44 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Mimi Pickering and Tom Fitzgerald regarding telephone service deregulation. Listen to this episode here. 00:16: Lisa Gonzalez: Hi, again. And welcome to the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, a production of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I’m … Read More
In a recent SLOG post from the Stranger, Ansel Herz commented on Mayor Ed Murray’s recent statement on broadband in Seattle. Murray’s statement included: Finding a job, getting a competitive education, participating in our democracy, or even going to work for some, requires high speed internet access. I have seen people say online, “I don’t need … Read More
“We can’t do it as an individual, But four hundred communities aggregating and asking for local wind power and solar power – that’s really powerful.” Oak Park, IL, is one of hundreds of Illinois towns using their authority to buy electricity in bulk on behalf of its residential and small business customers. So far, most communities … Read More
Listen in to the podcast to hear Ken Regelson describe how the remarkable results of Boulder’s citizen-driven energy model have given them power to stand up to the incumbent electric monopoly with a vision for a 21st century clean energy system.… Read More
In his 1996 State of the Union Address Democratic President Bill Clinton famously declared, “the era of big government is over.” And during his tenure he did everything he could to make that true–deregulating the telecommunications and the financial industry, enacting a free trade agreement severely restricting the authority of the federal government to protect domestic … Read More
The Atlantic Cities, March 4, 2013 The Institute for Local Self-Reliance recently compiled this map of all the communities in the country that control their own access to the Internet. At best count, there are about 340 of them with publicly owned fiber-optic or cable networks, serving either all or parts of town. In these places, … Read More
The Tyee, January 17, 2013 It’s a typically cold and rainy December morning on a rooftop in downtown Vancouver. The revolving restaurant atop the Harbour Centre skyscraper peeks above some closer buildings to the north, the pious spire of the Holy Rosary Cathedral marks south. Steps away, the concrete roof supports a massive greenhouse filled with … Read More
Seattle Met Magazine, June 26, 2012 For years Seattle has welched on its promise to build a municipal broadband network. We may have Tacoma to blame—and thank—for that. For Seattleites desperately in need of a break on their Internet bill, it had to be a drag to discover in early May that their last best hope … Read More
