Local Energy Rules

Accountability might just crumble when a utility, accountable to its board, punishes dissenting board members. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Autumn Johnson, Founder and CEO of Tierra Strategy. They talk about Salt River Project: a publicly-owned Arizona utility engaged in some shady behavior. The public’s only accountability measure? Board membe...

With advanced technology, utility regulation has become a juggling act. How do you accurately weigh the risks of innovation? Can utilities be sincere advocates for their customers? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Ted Thomas of Energize Strategies and former chair of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. They discuss access, fairness, cost shifts...

20 years ago, customers of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) were solar “PV Pioneers.” Now, the utility is stifling customer-owned solar, increasing fixed charges, and one third of SMUD customers can’t afford their monthly bill. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Derek Cressman and Fatima Malik, who have both run for seats on the Sacra...

While many cities profess an interest in advancing clean energy, states often hold the keys to the policy and regulatory opportunities. Activists from Brookline, Mass., the first cold-climate city to ban expansion of the methane gas network to new homes and businesses, aim to give cities the upper hand. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Jesse Gray a...

Successful utility takeovers are few and far between. What other options do communities have to get what they want from their electricity provider? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell explains five alternatives to a public power takeover that can still advance a community’s clean energy and environmental justice aims — with examples from the Local Energy Rules arc...

“Establishing public power is the beginning of a process, and not an end,” says SMUD Board Candidate Derek Cressman. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, customers of four publicly-owned utilities explain some limitations of the public power model and how they are organizing to increase accountability. The utilities included in their stories are Sacramento Municipal Utility District...

Federal lawmakers are getting all the credit, but the real work of the Inflation Reduction Act will be done by federal agencies, private entities, and state and local governments. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Amy Turner, Senior Fellow with the Cities Climate Law Initiative at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. They discuss how cities can...

Cities can take over when their private utility’s service is poor, but municipalization isn’t all or nothing. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell describes three municipalization attempts: Boulder, Colo., Minneapolis, and Decorah, Iowa. Each city failed to form its own utility, but found silver linings in trying. This is part four of a special series: The Promise...

Cities want to provide affordable, reliable service to their residents, but for-profit electric utilities won’t give up their monopolies without a fight. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, John Coyle describes how to form a publicly-owned utility and lists the four ingredients for baking up a public takeover. This is part three in a special series: The Promise and Peril of Publicl...

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Randy Knight, City Manager of Winter Park, Fla., and Ursula Schryver, Vice President of Strategic Member Engagement and Education at the American Public Power Association. Schryver describes the benefits of consumer-owned utility service and Knight reports on the progress that municipalization brought to Winter Park...

On Wenesday, as advocates held their breath, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. But what exactly is in the 700-plus page bill? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Katie Kienbaum, Senior Researcher on ILSR’s Energy Democracy Initiative. They discuss the Inflation Reduction Act and how it will support distributed solar through...

Why would a community go through the laborious, expensive, and drawn-out municipalization process — especially when a win is unlikely? What do cities have to gain? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell and community leaders in six different municipalization campaigns explain their motivations and why a city might attempt to take over its electric utility. This is pa...

Is municipalization — the public takeover of a privately-owned utility — the best way for cities to reach their ambitious clean energy targets? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, Building Local Power co-hosts Luke Gannon and Reggie Rucker ask John Farrell about an upcoming Local Energy Rules podcast series, “The Promise and Peril of Publicly-Owned Power.” The series (launching Aug...

Customers of rural electric cooperatives are more than just electric customers; they are members and owners of a cooperative enterprise. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Kevin Williams, a longtime Colorado organizer currently serving on the Delta Montrose Electric Cooperative board. They discuss how cooperative member-owners mobilized and campaigned...

Innovation in the tech industry has been trending toward smaller devices, increased choices, and more power in the hands of the consumer. Why hasn’t the energy industry followed the same trend? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Bill Nussey, author of Freeing Energy: How Innovators Are Using Local-scale Solar and Batteries to Disrupt the Global Energy...

Rural electric cooperatives are charged with a concern for the community, but how much can an electric provider really do for its customers? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Bryan Hannegan, President and CEO of Holy Cross Energy. Holy Cross is a cooperative electric utility serving 46,000 customers in Colorado. Farrell and Hannegan discuss how cultu...

Monopoly energy utilities have accrued vast service territories and extraordinary financial power — which they have used to purchase political power. At this point, state regulatory and legislative bodies can only do so much to rein them in. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Howard Crystal and Liz Veazey. Crystal, Legal Director of the Energy Justice...

Utility companies are meddling with elections, exploiting disasters for financial gain, and chronically neglecting their equipment. Could public takeovers, which remove a utility’s profit motive and install public oversight, be the remedy? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, we’re re-releasing John Farrell’s 2018 interview with Andrew Johnson and Joel Zook of Decorah Power. They di...

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...