10 Years of Minnesota’s Community Solar Program — Episode 202 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 31 Jan 2024 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Pouya Najmaie discusses the strengths and weaknesses of Minnesota’s community solar program, its many regulatory and legislative changes over the years, and how utility Xcel Energy has found a new way to try to suppress distributed generation.… Read More

Petitioners Ask Feds to Investigate Utility Abuses of Monopoly Power — Episode 201 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 17 Jan 2024 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In this episode from the archive, Howard Crystal and Liz Veazey discuss a petition to the Federal Trade Commission and why electric utility practices require federal investigation. ILSR first published this interview in June of 2022.… Read More

Colorado Bill Increases Utility Accountability — Episode 194 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 18 Oct 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Steve Fenberg discusses Colorado’s Senate Bill 291, which changed incentives in the investor-owned utility business model to protect Colorado consumers from high fossil fuel costs and protects captive customers from paying for the utility to lobby against their own interests.… Read More

Against All Reason, Indiana Dismantles Rooftop Solar — Episode 193 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 27 Sep 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Ben Inskeep discusses Indiana’s backward solar policy, why local solar is a threat to utilities, and how to go up against the powerful entrenched interests of monopolies.… Read More

Don’t Follow California’s Lead on Rooftop Solar — Episode 192 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 13 Sep 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Sachu Constantine explains the obstacles and opportunities arising for the electric grid as customers become generators and what California got wrong in its 2022 net metering decision.… Read More

The Anti-Competitive Tricks up Utility Sleeves — Episode 191 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 30 Aug 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Seth Handy explains how utilities have, through loopholes in federal guidance and friends on public regulatory bodies, protected their own interests at the expense of clean energy projects.… Read More

13 States Flunk This Standard Test — Episode 188 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 19 Jul 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Mari Hernandez explains why we need transparent and efficient interconnection standards, how the regulatory landscape can adapt to new technologies, and where IREC’s Freeing the Grid initiative can help.… Read More

Utilities Gamble With Household Money — Episode 187 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 5 Jul 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Tony Bartelme discusses how utilities have wagered and lost billions of customer dollars, why customers are on the hook when utilities take financial risks, and how unhappy customers can counter utility power grabs.… Read More

StarTribune: Utility Lobbying Violates Ratepayers’ Free Speech

Date: 23 Mar 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Media Coverage | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In this commentary from the Minneapolis StarTribune, John Farrell makes a case against monopoly utilities using customer funds for political lobbying. Compelling captive customers to pay for political speech is a violation of their first amendment right, says Farrell.… Read More

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