AT&T Is Abandoning Tens of Thousands of American Households in the Deep South Who Have No Other Internet Access Option

Date: 8 Oct 2020 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

AT&T has stopped making connections to users subscribing to its DSL Internet as of October 1st. The most conservative number of those affected by the decision will be about 80,000 households that have no other option.… Read More

Updated Policy Brief: Cooperatives Bring Fiber Internet Access to Rural America

Date: 17 Dec 2019 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Originally published in 2017, our report, Cooperatives Fiberize Rural America: A Trusted Model for the Internet Era, focuses on cooperatives as a proven model for deploying fiber optic Internet access across the country. An update in the spring of 2019 included additional information about the rate co-ops are expanding Internet service, and now we’ve updated it … Read More

A New Credit Union Aims to Lower the Cost of Clean Energy — Episode 59 of Local Energy Rules Podcast

Date: 22 Aug 2018 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

What if your savings account could be put to use enabling clean energy investments from insulation to solar to electric vehicles? Starting this summer it can. John Farrell spoke with volunteer board chair Blake Jones of the newly launched Clean Energy Credit Union in August 2018 about this online-only financial institution dedicated to financing home insulation, solar, electric vehicles, and electric bikes and more.… Read More

Five Ways Co-ops Are Countering Corporate Power in Cities

Date: 3 Nov 2017 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, MuniNetworks, Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This op-ed was originally published in Next City on October 31st, 2017. As local economies suffer from market concentration in economic sectors ranging from retail to banking, cooperatives across industries are helping to strengthen communities and keep resources local. This is nothing new; cooperatives have a long history of serving local needs. Today, the cooperative ownership structure … Read More

Indiana Eases Easements For Electric Cooperatives, Allows Fiber Infrastructure Investments

Date: 14 Jun 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The State Legislature in Indiana sent SB 478 to Governor Eric Holcomb earlier this session; he recently signed the bill into law. Also known as the Facilitating Internet Broadband Rural Expansion (FIBRE) Act, the new law allows electric cooperatives with easements for electric lines to use those same easement for fiber infrastructure. The change in existing … Read More

Working Together, Small Solar Firms Compete With Big-Name Rivals — Episode 45 of Local Energy Rules Podcast

Date: 5 Jun 2017 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Fast-improving technology and growing consumer interest continue to put momentum behind the clean energy transition. Unlike utilities and other industry players that have largely ignored growth opportunities as market dynamics shift, a coalition of independent solar companies is harnessing its combined power to command more influence in the marketplace. Amicus Solar Cooperative formed in Colorado in … Read More

Video: Transitioning Co-ops Away From Coal

Date: 7 Apr 2017 | posted in: Energy | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Karlee Weinmann, Research Associate for the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, delivered a presentation in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 28th, 2017 at an event called Decarbonizing the Electric Grid. In her presentation she discussed the untapped potential for rural electric cooperatives to democratically engage with their member-owners, commit heavily to renewable energy, and lift up their stories in the energy industry.… Read More

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