Local Energy Rules

The Member Campaigns Behind a Colorado Co-op’s Evolution

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Kevin Williams discuss how cooperative member-owners mobilized and campaigned for transparency, flexibility, and affordability from Delta Montrose Electric Cooperative.… Read More

Small Solar Frees Energy From Decades of Utility-Stifled Innovation — Episode 160 of Local Energy Rules

Small Solar Frees Energy From Decades of Utility-Stifled Innovation

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Bill Nussey discuss how regulated utility monopolies are stifling energy innovation and why “small is the future” of the energy sector.… Read More

How Colorado Electric Customers Are Leading a Co-op’s Clean Energy Journey — Episode 159 of Local Energy Rules

How Colorado Electric Customers Are Leading a Co-op's Clean Energy Journey

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Bryan Hannegan discuss how cultural change, led by the customers, pushed Holy Cross Energy to offer innovative programs in its transition to 100 percent renewable energy.… Read More

Petitioners Ask Feds to Investigate Utility Abuses of Monopoly Power — Episode 158 of Local Energy Rules

From the Archive: Ballot Initiative Shapes Iowa Town’s Fight for Local Power — Episode 157 of Local Energy Rules

From the Archive: Ballot Initiative Shapes Iowa Town’s Fight for Local Power

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the archive, guests Andrew Johnson and Joel Zook join host John Farrell to discuss how a municipal electric utility could better serve Decorah residents.… Read More

A People’s Playbook on Advancing Energy Justice, Despite Utility Misdirection

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Yesenia Rivera discuss the People’s Utility Justice Playbook and how to combat utility tactics that undermine energy democracy.… Read More

A People’s Playbook on Advancing Energy Justice, Despite Utility Misdirection — Episode 156 of Local Energy Rules

Monopolistic Utility Companies Suppress the Use of Customer Data — Episode 155 of Local Energy Rules

Monopolistic Utility Companies Suppress the Use of Customer Data

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the Building Local Power Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Michael Murray discuss how utilities resist data portability, even though customers have a right to their data.… Read More

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

The Movement to Take Back Control From Monopoly Electric Utilities

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

Despite Promising Policies, Advocates Are Still Fighting for Community Power — Episode 153 of Local Energy Rules

Despite Promising Policies, Advocates Are Still Fighting for Community Power

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guests Crystal Huang and Al Weinrub discuss the gap between policy and implementation and how ILSR’s Community Power Scorecard could better represent and mobilize local organizers.… Read More

The Legal Case for a Clean and Competitive Energy Sector

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Jean Su discuss a landmark court ruling's implications for antitrust enforcement and how President Biden could defend the U.S. from climate and economic harms.… Read More

The Legal Case for a Clean and Competitive Energy Sector — Episode 152 of Local Energy Rules

Voices of 100%: Idaho Coalition Crafts a Data-Driven Clean Power Pledge

For this Voices of 100% episode of Local Energy Rules, guests Lynne Barker, Scott Runkel, and host John Farrell discuss Blaine County's 2020 commitment to 100 percent renewable energy and how Idaho communities can reach their goals.… Read More

Voices of 100%: Idaho Coalition Crafts a Data-Driven Clean Power Pledge — Episode 151 of Local Energy Rules

Leaders in Morris, Minn., Create a Model for Rural Resilience

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, guests Troy Goodnough and Blaine Hill join John Farrell to discuss the Morris Model. They discuss local and international partnerships and what it means to be a model community.… Read More

Leaders in Morris, Minn., Create a Model for Rural Resilience — Episode 150 of Local Energy Rules

By Controlling Transmission, Utilities Corner the Electricity Market — Episode 149 of Local Energy Rules

By Controlling Transmission, Utilities Corner the Electricity Market

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Ari Peskoe discuss how utilities have gained outsized market power by owning transmission infrastructure and how federal regulators could reintroduce competition through targeted regulation.… Read More

What Is the Value of Solar?

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Gabriel Chan discuss how to calculate solar energy’s true value, where to improve Minnesota’s Value of Solar, and why we must ground decisions in data.… Read More

What Is the Value of Solar? — Episode 148 of Local Energy Rules

The Long Wait for Community Solar in Washington State

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Mason Rolph discuss Olympia Community Solar, the organization’s advocacy work, and why Washington needs a proper community solar program.… Read More

The Long Wait for Community Solar in Washington State — Episode 147 of Local Energy Rules

Can More Competition Fix an Outdated Energy System? — Episode 146 of Local Energy Rules

Can More Competition Fix an Outdated Energy System?

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the Building Local Power Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Chris Villarreal discuss the electricity market and how it insulates utility companies from competition.… Read More

Voices of 100%: Moab Anchors Utah Community Renewable Energy Program — Episode 145 of Local Energy Rules

Voices of 100%: Moab Anchors Utah Community Renewable Energy Program

For this Voices of 100% episode of Local Energy Rules, host John Farrell and guests Mila Dunbar-Irwin and Kalen Jones discuss how, using collective buying power, Moab and other participating cities will negotiate for 100 percent renewable energy from Rocky Mountain Power.… Read More

Ithaca Races Against the Clock to Decarbonize All Buildings by 2030 — Episode 144 of Local Energy Rules

Ithaca Races Against the Clock to Decarbonize All Buildings by 2030

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Luis Aguirre-Torres discuss Ithaca’s Green New Deal, financing the city’s decarbonization effort, and getting the work done as time runs out.… Read More

New Mexico Co-op Dumps Monopoly Supplier to Offer More Solar — Episode 143 of Local Energy Rules

New Mexico Co-op Dumps Monopoly Supplier to Offer More Solar

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Luis Reyes discuss how Kit Carson’s exit from Tri-State Generation and Transmission allowed the co-op to target 100 percent daytime solar power — without sacrificing affordability.… Read More

Voices of 100%: Des Moines Commits to Clean Electricity Around the Clock

For this Voices of 100% episode of Local Energy Rules, host John Farrell and guests Kari Carney and Josh Mandelbaum discuss Des Moines’s round-the-clock clean electricity resolution and how it differs from traditional clean energy commitments.… Read More

Voices of 100%: Des Moines Commits to Clean Electricity Around the Clock — Episode 142 of Local Energy Rules

Drone Data Helps a Minnesota City Conserve Energy — Episode 141 of Local Energy Rules

Drone Data Helps a Minnesota City Conserve Energy

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Shannon Mortenson discuss Warren’s first-of-its-kind thermal imaging project, lessons learned from the pilot, and how cities can help residents conserve energy.… Read More

Rep. Seth Berry on the Movement for Publicly-Owned Power in Maine

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the Building Local Power Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Seth Berry discuss Our Power Maine: an initiative to replace Maine's investor-owned utilities with a consumer-owned utility.… Read More

Rep. Seth Berry on the Movement for Publicly-Owned Power in Maine — Episode 140 of Local Energy Rules

Colorado Law Creates Transparency at Rural Electric Co-ops — Episode 139 of Local Energy Rules

Colorado Law Creates Transparency at Rural Electric Co-ops

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Joe Smyth discuss barriers to democratic participation in rural electric cooperative decision-making and how to promote transparency at all electric co-ops. … Read More

Queremos Sol: Seeking Solar Power for All Puerto Rican Homes — Episode 138 of Local Energy Rules

Queremos Sol: Seeking Solar Power for All Puerto Rican Homes

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Ingrid Vila discuss why rooftop solar should power every home in Puerto Rico, reducing residential electricity rates and covering basic needs during future crises.… Read More

Voices of 100%: A Renewable City Coalition Grows in Western Montana

For this Voices of 100% episode of Local Energy Rules, host John Farrell and guests Patrick Judge and Mark Juedeman discuss Helena’s commitment to 100% renewable energy. Helena has joined Missoula and Bozeman, building a commanding coalition in western Montana.… Read More

Voices of 100%: A Renewable City Coalition Grows in Western Montana — Episode 137 of Local Energy Rules

The Role of Antitrust Law in Creating Energy Democracy

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guest Jean Su discuss how legal advocacy for energy democracy can overcome some of the utility hurdles to a renewable energy economy.… Read More

The Role of Antitrust Law in Creating Energy Democracy — Episode 136 of Local Energy Rules