Local Energy Rules
374 episodes - English - Latest episode: 14 days ago - ★★★★★ - 39 ratingsThis bi-weekly podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance shares powerful stories of local renewable energy, from mayors discussing their city’s commitment to 100% renewable energy to tales of innovative community owned solar to questions about the the best rooftop solar policy. Join host John Farrell, the director of the Institute’s Energy Democracy Initiative, as he asks if the 100-year-old monopoly market structure for electricity delivery makes sense in an on-demand, distributed 21st century energy system. Tell us what you think.
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Episodes
Report: Public Rooftop Revolution
June 01, 2015 08:31 - 17.7 MBThere are a lot of stories on residential rooftop solar but few if any on what cities are doing to make themselves energy self-reliant by using their own buildings and lands to generate power. In Public Rooftop Revolution, ILSR estimates … Read More
Same Price, More Renewables. San Diego's Fight for Community Choice
June 05, 2014 20:47 - 13.1 MBIn this 2014 episode of Local Energy Rules, ILSR Energy Democracy initiative director John Farrell talks with Lane Sharman, co-founder and chair of the San Diego Energy District Foundation about the energy and economic potential of a city-run community choice energy program.… Read More
A Deep Dive on Value of Solar and the Future of Solar Energy
May 15, 2014 21:06 - 31.5 MB“Utility regulation and rates is a contact sport,” says Karl Rabago, and that makes the implementation of a new “value of solar” policy complex. Will distributed solar grow better with a transparent, value-based contract price? How does it differ from … Read More
One City Utility is Carbon Neutral, Today
May 01, 2014 21:47It’s one thing to own your utility and have a commitment to renewable energy, but it’s another thing to deliver. The municipal utility in Palo Alto, CA, set an ambitious target of 33% renewable energy by 2015 and to ultimately … Read More
The Power of the Collective Energy Purchasing
April 17, 2014 05:53“We can’t do it as an individual, But four hundred communities aggregating and asking for local wind power and solar power – that’s really powerful.” Oak Park, IL, is one of hundreds of Illinois towns using their authority to buy … Read More
The Leading Community Energy Aggregator
April 03, 2014 20:02Learn more about the struggle against the incumbent utility giant for local clean energy in this 2014 interview with Marin Clean Energy Executive Director Dawn Wiesz about community choice aggregation in California and her community's pioneering program.… Read More
A Perfect Storm for Renewables
March 21, 2014 14:05The Hawaiian utility, made local when the investor-owned utility left the business a decade ago, is surging toward 40% renewable energy in the next year, with a third of that total from customer-generated solar. Half its daytime energy will come from solar arrays by the end of 2015. Learn more about how a cooperative utility has blown past purported technical barriers to renewable energy and pioneered energy storage to make solar a prominent part of their energy mix in this interview with Ja...
How Can Communities Leverage a Better Energy Future?
March 06, 2014 22:25We spoke with New Era Colorado executive director Stephen Fenberg about the grassroots campaign to fight Xcel Energy and build a better energy future.… Read More
Millions of People Investing in Solar
February 20, 2014 19:16For years, the only effective way to go solar was to have tens of thousands of dollars and a sunny roof. Investing in solar was nearly impossible. But a couple years ago, a new notion called crowdfunding got its start, and California-Based Mosaic was on the forefront. Its crowdfunding program allows people to pool their resources, large or small, to build community-based solar installations. It’s not about charity, either. Mosaic’s pioneering crowdfunding effort is letting people across ...
Envisioning An Innovative Local Electric Utility
February 07, 2014 02:14Listen in to the podcast to hear Ken Regelson describe how the remarkable results of Boulder’s citizen-driven energy model have given them power to stand up to the incumbent electric monopoly with a vision for a 21st century clean energy system.… Read More
A David and Goliath Fight to Tap World Class Solar
January 16, 2014 17:54“It’s the most inspirational work that I’m doing…this is an inspirational and aspirational effort…at the heart of it is love of place and energy democracy.” Citizens of Santa Fe, NM, are exploring the economic and environmental benefits of more local … Read More
How Solar Saves on Grid Costs
December 19, 2013 11:13“We can avoid that $100 million investment in transmission lines, distribution lines, in capital infrastructure…” How can a utility like Long Island Power Authority avoid all that new capital expenditure? Find out in this interview with Vice President of Environmental … Read More
The #1 Solar Utility is in...Iowa?
December 05, 2013 18:17It may be one of the oldest cooperative utilities in the country, but in the next six months, Farmers Electric Cooperative (FEC) of southeastern Iowa will be leading the nation in this 21st century energy source. Upon completion of a new solar array, the 640-member cooperative will have over 1,500 Watts of solar per customer on their system, nearly double the #2 utility. It's also the most reliable utility in Iowa. How can this small, member-owned utility in Kalona be "America's Most Progress...
A Once-in-a-Generation Chance to Achieve a City's Energy Goals
November 21, 2013 19:00“We have this once-in-a-generation negotiation coming up next year and it’s a chance for Minneapolis to explore what its energy choices might be and how it could achieve its energy goals.” Earlier this week, the Minneapolis city council got an … Read More
Vermont's Standard Offer Renewable Energy Program
June 06, 2013 21:44“A lot of the utilities don’t totally understand this new paradigm that’s coming.” David Blittersdorf of AllEarth Solar has been working to advance renewable energy in Vermont for years, and was instrumental in getting the state’s standard offer program (a … Read More
A Community Solar Gold Standard
May 17, 2013 14:40Joy Hughes was living in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, a place with a “tremendous amount of solar potential,” so good that the valley’s residents were being overwhelmed by proposals for large scale solar power plants. One had a “field of things like radar dishes” and another included a “600 foot tower.” The influx of outside companies seeking solar profit led Joy to ask, “Why not just set up solar arrays that can provide power for people in the local community and offset their electric bil...
Florida City a World Leader in Solar
May 02, 2013 20:04“It’s the only time I’ve done a rate increase when nobody was opposed,” says Ed Regan of the Gainesville utility’s feed-in tariff for solar power. The program, launched in 2009, has resulted in nearly 15 megawatts of new, local solar … Read More
600 Investors in South Dakota's Premier Community Wind Project
April 18, 2013 20:05In April 2013, John Farrell spoke to Brian Minish, CEO of South Dakota Wind Partners about a community wind project that attracted over 600 local investors. The project was the brainchild of four state organizations rooted in rural South Dakota--the East River Electric Cooperative, South Dakota Farm Bureau, South Dakota Farmers Union and South Dakota Corn Growers. Hoping to broaden ownership in a wind farm project proposed by Basin Electric in Crow Lake, these groups worked with Brian to fig...
Paul Spencer and the Community Solar 'Holy Grail'
April 05, 2013 17:37This week John Farrell and Wade Underwood talk with Paul Spencer, President and founder of the Clean Energy Collective (CEC) in Carbondale, CO. The CEC is pioneering the process of delivering clean power-generation through medium-scale (mostly solar) facilities that are collectively owned by participating utility customers. In many ways, their community energy model is the “holy grail” because it has proven replicable in several places around the United States.… Read More
Susan Osborne and Boulder's Clean Energy Takeover
March 22, 2013 15:25In this episode of Local Energy Rules, John Farrell and Wade Underwood talk with Susan Osborne, the former Mayor of Boulder, CO, about that city’s effort to take control of its energy future. … Read More
Randy Caviness and Community Wind in Iowa
March 07, 2013 18:04Community wind projects are relatively rare, but allow numerous investors to share in the financial benefits of owning wind power. After the 2008 financial crisis, several projects were successful, tapping limited-time-only federal tax incentives. In March 2013, John Farrell and … Read More
Steve Johnson
February 21, 2013 20:15In this edition of Local Energy Rules, John Farrell and Wade Underwood speak with Steve Johnson of Convergence Energy about a successful 660 kilowatt community solar project near Delavan, WI. The project required 33 separate LLCs to take advantage of the … Read More
Bill Moyer
January 31, 2013 10:55In this edition of Local Energy Rules, John Farrell and Wade Underwood speak with Bill Moyer of the Backbone Campaign about a nascent community solar project in Vashon, WA. We ask Bill about his involvement with the project as a … Read More
Anya Schoolman
January 16, 2013 11:27What began as a group of neighbors hoping to reduce their impact on global warming has since become a major force for solar advocacy in Washington, DC. The Mount Pleasant Solar Cooperative was started by two teenage boys who wanted to make solar power convenient and affordable through a bulk-purchase program… Read More