Local Energy Rules

Utilities have more than a century of experience in maintaining their monopolies. Thanks to organizers at the Energy Democracy Project, the people now have a playbook that exposes utility tactics and shares proven strategies to advance energy justice. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Yesenia Rivera, Director of Energy Equity and Inclusion at Solar U...

Using an iPhone solely as an iPod would be a waste, but this failure to harness smart technology’s full potential is happening with electric meters across the United States. Customers have paid their utility for hardware and installation, but the utility won’t enable the meter’s “smart” functions. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the Building Local Power Podca...

Monopoly electric utilities are digging their heels in; warding off competition and protecting their market power by any means necessary. Despite the vast resources of their opponents, several U.S. communities have won recent battles for energy democracy. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the Building Local Power Podcast, we share a recording of ILSR’s recent e...

ILSR’s Community Power Scorecard evaluates state policies based on how they help or hinder local clean energy action — but do the grades that states receive reflect the experience of advocates on the ground? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Crystal Huang and Al Weinrub. Huang is a co-founder and worker owner of the People Power Solar Cooperative and...

With Congress at a standstill, the prospect of federal action on climate and clean energy is looking bleak. The Center for Biological Diversity, however, is pursuing two alternatives to federal legislation: executive action and the courts. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Jean Su, Attorney and Director of the Energy Justice Program at the Center for...

Amidst the competing challenges of the last two years, communities are still making ambitious plans to ditch fossil fuels. In 2020, Blaine County and Hailey, Idaho joined the now more than 180 cities and towns that have committed to 100 percent renewable energy. For this episode of our Voices of 100% series of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell talks with Blaine County Sustainabilit...

A group in Morris, Minnesota — a city of 5,000 — has put together the Morris Model: a partnership and strategic plan to model how rural communities can shine in areas like clean energy and community resilience. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Troy Goodnough, Sustainability Director with the University of Minnesota Morris, and Blaine Hill, Morris Ci...

Utilities use transmission lines to move electricity, balance supply and demand, and maintain their hold on the market. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Ari Peskoe, Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School (Environmental and Energy Law program). Peskoe’s recent paper “Is the Utility Transmission Syndicate Forever?” summar...

Since 2013, Minnesota’s long-running regulatory docket has carried a long-running debate: how can we calculate the value of solar energy to individuals, communities, and society? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Gabriel Chan, associate professor at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs in Science, Technology, and Environmen...

In the state of Washington, advocates hope that the third time’s the charm for passing community solar legislation. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Mason Rolph, President of Olympia Community Solar. In the absence of supportive state policy, Rolph has found a way to develop community solar gardens that reward subscribers. Farrell and Rolph discuss...

Electric utility monopolies, once a necessary evil, are time and again failing to meet the challenges of the current moment. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the Building Local Power Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Chris Villarreal, President of Plugged In Strategies and an Associate Fellow with the R Street Institute. They discuss the electricity marke...

To preserve its unique natural environment and the regional economy, Moab and other Utah cities have created a pathway to procure 100 percent renewable power by 2030. For this episode of our Voices of 100% series of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell talks with Moab Sustainability Director Mila Dunbar-Irwin and City Council Member Kalen Jones. Moab is an anchor community for the Com...

Ithaca, N.Y. is making headlines for its plan to decarbonize all local buildings. What’s unique about Ithaca is not its ambitious goal, which many cities share, but the fact that it is truly advancing toward it. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Ithaca Sustainability Director Luis Aguirre-Torres, who in the eight months of his tenure, has set in moti...

Rural areas are sometimes isolated, disconnected from modern conveniences and the latest technologies. The digital divide is real, but one cooperative in New Mexico is proving to be an exception as it connects customers to affordable solar energy and reliable Internet service. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Luis Reyes, General Manager of the Kit C...

Though it’s insulated from sea level rise, the state of Iowa faces many dangerous climate change impacts — which in turn threaten the nation’s food supply. Fortunately, the state is rich in renewable energy potential and eager advocates who hope to harness it. For this episode of our Voices of 100% series of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell talks with Kari Carney and Josh Mandelba...

Maintaining healthy, comfortable buildings can be expensive in Minnesota — especially during polar vortex events. Warren, a small city in Northern Minnesota, is offering an innovative public service: images that reveal building heat loss, captured by drones. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with City Administrator Shannon Mortenson of Warren, Minnesota....

Electric customers in Maine, who are fed up with lousy utility service, can use a ballot initiative to take back their power. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the Building Local Power Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Maine State Representative Seth Berry. Berry was the Maine House sponsor of LD 1708, a bill to establish a consumer-owned utility, and serv...

After moving to Colorado, Joe Smyth found he was barred from participating in his generation and transmission cooperative — despite a Colorado law promoting co-op transparency. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Joe Smyth, Researcher at the Energy and Policy Institute and author of CleanCooperative.com. Farrell and Smyth discuss barriers to democratic...

Residents of Puerto Rico are ready for energy democracy. Specifically, a resilient, renewable electricity system with equitably shared benefits. Is this vision possible for the island, whose democratic power is limited to begin with? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with guest Ingrid Vila, environmental engineer and founder of non-profit Cambio. After Pu...

For this episode of our Voices of 100% series of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell talks with Helena Sustainability Coordinator Patrick Judge and Citizens Conservation Commission Member Mark Juedeman. Judge and Juedeman supported Helena as the city committed to 100% renewable energy. In making its commitment, Helena has joined Missoula and Bozeman, building a commanding coalition i...

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast of episode 127 of the Building Local Power Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with guest Jean Su. Su, an attorney and Director of the Energy Justice program at the Center for Biological Diversity, represented the Center in an antitrust suit against Arizona utility Salt River Project. Farrell and Su discuss how legal advocacy for ener...

Electricity customers are lining up to generate their own clean, affordable solar energy, but to get it to them, solar developers must navigate the impediments of a congested and outdated electricity grid. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Yochi Zakai, attorney with Shute, Mahaly, and Weinberger representing Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC)...

For this Voices of 100% episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and guests Kate Beaton and Ned Noel examine Eau Claire’s clean energy goal, the citizen participation that has supported its work, and the strategies the City is using to advance renewable energy. How will a Midwestern city secure its sustainable energy future? Implementing community solar gardens.  For this episo...

Utility companies may seem out of reach, and some decisions are made behind closed doors, but everyone has the right to be heard by their electric provider. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Eric Williams, Vice Chair of the Omaha Public Power District’s Board of Directors. Williams ran for a seat on the utility’s Board of Directors in 2017 out of con...

What happens when unstoppable, innovative clean energy entrepreneurs meet immovable, power-hungry fossil fuel incumbents? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Danny Kennedy, Co-founder of Sungevity and Chief Energy Officer of New Energy Nexus. Kennedy, who Farrell describes as a “distributed solar prophet,” is a staunch advocate for solar and supports r...