Joining 14 other states, New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities recently rolled out its draft community solar (or “shared renewables”) program rules. The program captures many of the best aspects of community solar programs, including generous compensation, project sizes, and a focus on access for low-income customers.… Read More
A large amount of new power generation capacity was added during the second quarter of 2018, but not in the form renewable or distributed generation advocates might hope, according to the latest update from ILSR’s Energy Democracy Initiative. Our updated chart of new power plant capacity illustrates how growth in renewable energy is overshadowed by an increase in natural gas capacity and how distributed solar in particular stacks up.… Read More
Municipal elections often fall off the radar during national ones, but cities retain a surprising amount of power over their energy future. What can you ask a local candidate or elected official to pursue? The following list of 11 resolutions, actions, and rules can make your local city council or mayor a clean energy champion.… Read More
As a growing number of U.S. cities make commitments to reach 100 percent renewable electricity, how are cities making plans to achieve these goals? In our third episode of Voices of 100%, a multi-part series of Local Energy Rules, San Diego’s Chief Sustainability Officer Cody Hooven joins John Farrell to discuss how the city is making progress toward its ambitious goal to shift to 100 percent renewable energy.… Read More
Earlier this summer, ILSR Energy Democracy Research Associate Marie Donahue participated in an online video series entitled Solutionary Perspectives, produced by the Backbone Campaign’s Solutionary Rails project. The recent episode “Clean Energy, Community Economy, and Energy Democracy” released last week focuses on the topic of community solar, highlighting on-the-ground examples from Maryland and key resources from ILSR.… Read More
As a growing number of U.S. cities make commitments to reach 100 percent renewable electricity, how are cities making plans to achieve these goals? In our second episode of Voices of 100%, a multi-part series of Local Energy Rules, John Farrell interviews city council member Larry Atencio from Pueblo, Colo., about the ambitious goal the city has made to shift to 100 percent renewable power. … Read More
How efficient are buildings in your community? That depends a lot on the building code, which states (and sometimes cities) can use to set minimum standards for energy efficiency. See a chart comparing building energy codes and what cities can do to save their residents and businesses money on heating and cooling their buildings.… Read More
What if your savings account could be put to use enabling clean energy investments from insulation to solar to electric vehicles? Starting this summer it can. John Farrell spoke with volunteer board chair Blake Jones of the newly launched Clean Energy Credit Union in August 2018 about this online-only financial institution dedicated to financing home insulation, solar, electric vehicles, and electric bikes and more.… Read More
Today, California claims a whopping 750,000 unique solar projects — an order of magnitude more than the number that existed in the state a decade ago. We illustrate this impressive, rapid expansion of solar projects throughout California over time in a cool, new animated map.… Read More
