The Movement to Take Back Control From Monopoly Electric Utilities — Episode 154 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 13 Apr 2022 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the Building Local Power Podcast, we share a recording of ILSR’s Democratizing Power event: a conversation with advocates about how communities have challenged monopoly power.… Read More

Crowdfunding for Community Power?

Date: 19 Jun 2012 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 3 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Back in April, President Obama signed the JOBS Act and one of the most-heralded elements was so-called crowdfunding. The law sought to solve a major problem: it’s hard to finance small-scale business ventures.  Wall Street only cares about multi-million dollar plays and securities regulations make small-dollar projects rather difficult (and costly) to jointly fund. The Act … Read More

Could Securitization Democratize Solar Power?

Date: 14 May 2012 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 1 Facebooktwitterredditmail

After Wall Street popularized the term “mortgage-backed securities” in their destruction of the economy in 2008, you could be forgiven for thinking “solar securities” are a pyramid scheme.  But in truth, they may hold the key to democratizing the financing and the ownership of distributed renewable energy. Right now, financing solar typically means looking for a … Read More