Local Energy Rules

The Florida Legislature removed local control of Gainesville’s century-old municipal utility, but Commissioner Bryan Eastman explains how the city plans to take it back. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/articles/public-power-ballot-florida-ler221/| Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/energy/local-energy-rules-podcast/ | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

Jani Hale and Liz Veazy from Solar United Neighbors explain how the Solar Help Desk aids consumers and how the group organizes people to fight for solar rights. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/article/solar-help-desk-agenda-free-ler220/ | Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/energy/local-energy-rules-podcast/ | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

Shelley Welton discusses why utilities cannot be trusted to coordinate their electricity transmission plans and how an independent planning authority could step in where federal regulators have floundered. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/articles/crashing-utility-transmission-planning-party-ler219/ | Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/energy/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

Toyah Callahan and Zach Greene discuss how the SolSmart technical assistance platform supports local governments as they streamline their solar permitting, inspection, and zoning processes, making it easier for residents to go solar. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/cities-simplify-rooftop-solar-ler218/ | Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

Tim Hade and Leah Stokes discuss how, through the coordination of a virtual power plant, distributed energy generation and storage will provide resilient and affordable electric power to a vulnerable area of Santa Barbara County. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/stokes-hade-climate-resilience-california-ler217/ | Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

John Farrell summarizes ILSR’s recent report, Upcharge: Hidden Costs of Electric Utility Monopoly Power, and makes the case for restoring competition to the electricity system. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/how-monopoly-utilities-abuse-power-ler216/ | Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

Doug Kantor discusses why the electric vehicle charging market must be competitive, rather than controlled by utilities, and why convenience stores are particularly suited to provide vehicle fueling wherever customers are. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/the-cost-utility-controlled-vehicle-charging-ler215/ | Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

Bracken Hendricks discusses how Working Power, a community development and financing platform, helps community-based organizations retain ownership of clean energy projects and the financial benefits of clean energy investment. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/financing-platform-solar-ownership-ler214/ | Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

Jeremy Kalin discusses the evolution of federal tax incentives for renewable energy and how the direct pay provision of the Inflation Reduction Act will deliver more financial benefits to cities, counties, and nonprofits. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/solar-incentives-direct-pay-ler213/ | Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

Out of the legislative fight over the nuclear plant next door, Prairie Island Indian Community is building its own net zero energy future, on part three of our special series, Seven Hundreds Yards. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/articles/700-yards-pt3-seven-generations-ler212/ | Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

In part two of our special series, Seven Hundred Yards, we find out why the nuclear waste “temporarily” stored on Prairie Island is still there 30 years later. | Show page available: https://ilsr.org/articles/700-yards-pt2-pretend-democracy-ler211| Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage | Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

Less than 700 yards is all that separates Prairie Island Indian Community homes from the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant and its growing stockpile of nuclear waste.For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with community members and experts to learn more about the history of Prairie Island Indian Community and the construction of the nuclear plant next door.This is part one in a special three-part series, Seven Hundred Yards: How a Native Nation Resisted the Nuclear Plant Next Door. The series examines how powerful players sited the nuclear plant, and its waste, next to Prairie Island Indian Community, and how Tribal members and their allies have stood up for their rights — in the process, growing a clean energy future for the community and Minnesota as a whole.Listen to the full episode and explore more resources here — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. Also check out the accompanying StoryMap as part of ILSR’s 50th-Anniversary Racial Justice S

Advocating for a distributed, democratized clean energy transition involves a never-ending series of legal and regulatory battles. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Mariel Nanasi, executive director of New Energy Economy. They discuss New Energy Economy’s efforts before lawmakers, regulators, and courts to protect consumers from the nefarious plans of New Mexico’s investor-owned utilities. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/advocate-full-court-pressure-utilities-ler209/

A community-owned clean energy project has a lot more to offer than just electricity. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Christina Hollenback, CEO of Justice Capital, and Joseph McNeil, CEO of SAGE Development Authority. They discuss how SAGE Development Authority has created a model for community-led wind development and why community ownership is so important to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/standing-rocks-wind-project-puts-people-first-episode-208-of-local-energy-rules/

DTE Energy is not meeting Ann Arbor’s needs for reliable, renewable electricity. Could a municipal takeover be the answer to residents’ pleas? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Gregory Woodring, the president and founder of Ann Arbor for Public Power. They discuss the ways that investor-owned utility DTE Energy has failed Ann Arbor customers and how the city could take over and provide better service. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/ann-arbor-public-pathway-reliable-power-ler207/

Local solar offers relief from exorbitant electric rates, but San Diego may need a different utility business model to see dramatic savings. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Dorrie Bruggemann and Bill Powers, Campaign Coordinator and Campaign Chair of the Power San Diego ballot initiative. They discuss how a publicly-owned electric utility would be more supportive of distributed solar, offer lower rates thanks to that solar, and what it will take to bring the municipalization decision to San Diego voters. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources here (https://ilsr.org/articles/san-diego-solar-takeover-ler206/) — including a transcript and summary of the conversation.

An April election could make an Arizona utility accountable to all of its customers. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Charlie Fisher, Executive Director of Arizonans for a Clean Economy. They discuss the upcoming Salt River Project election and how clean energy advocates could flip the public utility’s board and reverse anti-solar and anti-democratic policies. Explore more resources here (https://ilsr.org/articles/arizonas-high-stakes-utility-election-ler205/) — including a transcript and summary of the conversation.

Technology is outpacing laws and regulations in the energy industry, too. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Michael Murray, President of Mission:data Coalition. Murray explains the many capabilities of smart meters, his critique of a Rhode Island utility proposal to expand advanced metering, and how state and federal regulators can establish best practices for fairness and data access. Explore more resources at the link below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/smarter-rules-smart-meters-ler204/

Coordinated grid services benefit virtually everyone — with the exception of utility shareholders. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Chris Rauscher, Head of Grid Services and Virtual Power Plants at Sunrun. Sunrun has partnered with utilities to reward their residential customers who dispatch electricity stored in batteries when the grid needs it. Rauscher explains the benefits of coordinating distributed energy resources, how residential solar and storage customers have saved their neighbors from blackouts, and why every utility could be offering a virtual power plant program. Explore more resources at the link below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/concrete-benefits-virtual-power-plants-ler203/