Why Minnesota’s Community Solar Program is the Best
Minnesota’s community solar program hit 585 megawatts in July 2019, enough to power more than 100,000 homes each year or about half as much capacity as a typical nuclear power plant!… Read More
Of New Power Generation, How Much is on the Roof? Quarterly Update — 2019 Q1
Nearly 7 gigawatts of new power generation capacity came online in the first quarter of 2019 — 13 percent of which from small-scale solar installations — in the latest update from ILSR’s Energy Democracy Initiative. Renewable resources claimed a majority share of new power generation for the second quarter in a row.… Read More
Using Disaster to Build a New, (d)emocratic Energy Paradigm — Episode 78 of Local Energy Rules Podcast
In this May 2019 interview, ILSR’s Director of Energy Democracy John Farrell, and Ingrid Vila – an engineer and director of Cambio, a Puerto Rico based nonprofit – discussed the enormous opportunity, and the pitfalls the island must avoid, to seize the island’s chance for energy democracy.… Read More
A Local First Approach to Rebuilding Puerto Rico’s Electricity System — Episode 77 of Local Energy Rules Podcast
In this episode of Local Energy Rules, Energy Democracy Initiative director John Farrell speaks with Marcel Castro Sitiriche about the challenges Puerto Rico faces in building a local, clean, and resilient energy system in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.… Read More
Minnesota Community Solar Saves All Utility Customers Money
Despite its pride in having the nation’s largest community solar program––shown by the massive poster on its headquarters front doors (the above photo)––Xcel Energy can often be caught complaining (erroneously) that utility-owned solar would be more cost-effective. In the following analysis, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance explains why Minnesota’s community solar program has actually saved Xcel Energy customers millions of dollars already.… Read More
Of New Power Generation, How Much is on the Roof? Annual Update — 2018
New power plant capacity expanded across the country in 2018, but steady growth in local, small-scale solar and other renewables was overshadowed by a significant jump in new gas plants. Our latest annual and quarterly updates illustrate these trends and provides a few timely examples of how communities can keep utilities accountable to clean energy commitments, rein in new centralized fossil fuel infrastructure, and support local, renewable energy, instead.… Read More
Comparing 2019 and 2018 Community Power Scorecard Rankings
Earlier this year, ILSR released its 2019 Community Power State Scorecard, revealing the best and worst states for local clean energy across the country. In this new comparison of state rankings, we take a closer look at which states have taken the lead, which are improving, and which have more to do to create a policy landscape that supports distributed energy.… Read More
Which Regions and States are Leading in Local Clean Energy?
Released earlier this year, ILSR’s 2019 Community Power State Scorecard revealed new rankings of states that support local clean energy. How do states perform when compared to their neighbors? We explore this question to give advocates, lawmakers, and communities insights into how to improve state policies that enable local clean energy.… Read More
The State(s) of Distributed Solar — 2018 Update
As investments in renewable energy grow, more states are prioritizing solar. But how much of that solar is coming from smaller, distributed sources that help communities build wealth locally? Using updated data for 2018, we examine state-by-state solar markets and the corresponding share of distributed solar systems to see which states have seen the greatest success in investing in local, clean energy.… Read More