Energy Self Reliant States

18 Apr 2013

600 Investors in South Dakota’s Premier Community Wind Project – Episode 7 of Local Energy Rules Podcast

by John Farrell | Date: 18 Apr 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Podcast | 0

In 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 figure out how to add local investors to the mix.… Read More

17 Apr 2013

New Peak Power Capacity Should Use Solar, Not Gas

by John Farrell | Date: 17 Apr 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 5

It’s parochial, since I’m a Minnesota resident, but I just can’t stand that our state’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, is planning to use ratepayer money to buy three new natural gas fired peaking plants instead of a) installing solar power or b) supporting the proposed solar energy standard. Share the graphic below if you agree: FYI, … Read More

17 Apr 2013

Proposed Solar Standard is Cheap Compared to Minnesota Utilities’ Rate Increases

by John Farrell | Date: 17 Apr 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 1

If you’re a state legislator in Minnesota, here are a few grains of salt to season the message you’ve been getting from electric utilities about the proposed solar energy standard. The bill (HF956/SF901) requires most utilities to get 4% of their energy from solar by 2025 and offers a standard, fixed-price contract to distributed solar energy producers … Read More

16 Apr 2013

Proposed Solar Standard is Cheap Compared to Minnesota Utilities’ Rate Increases

by John Farrell | Date: 16 Apr 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0

If you’re a state legislator in Minnesota, here’s a few grains of salt to season the message you’ve been getting from electric utilities about the proposed solar energy standard. The bill (HF956/SF901) requires most utilities to get 4% of their energy from solar by 2025 and offers a standard, fixed-price contract to distributed solar energy producers (the … Read More

5 Apr 2013

Paul Spencer and the Community Solar ‘Holy Grail’ – Episode 6 of Local Energy Rules Podcast

by John Farrell | Date: 5 Apr 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Podcast | 0

This 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

4 Apr 2013

Solar Costs and Grid Prices On a Collision Course

by John Farrell | Date: 4 Apr 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 1

With the cost of solar continuing to fall rapidly (50% in the past five years) and electricity prices rising steadily, if slowly, the approach of solar grid parity is near. The following chart illustrates the trajectory of solar cost and electricity price, hinting at the coming intersection. 1 The chart compares the cost of a residential … Read More

3 Apr 2013

Los Angeles Utility Goes for Local Solar with 100 MW Feed-In Tariff

by John Farrell | Date: 3 Apr 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0

Officially launched in January after years of development, a new CLEAN (feed-in tariff) program from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (the city’s municipal electric utility) promises 100 MW of new local renewable energy by 2016. In absolute size, the program will be among the largest CLEAN programs in the U.S., but compared to the … Read More

27 Mar 2013

The Coming Solar Electricity Transformation

by John Farrell | Date: 27 Mar 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 1

Solar cells are unusual in that they were cost-competitive from the get-go. From the Apollo space program to highway signs to lighting for buoys, solar could replace highly expensive power from batteries or other sources and eliminate the need for the construction of electric distribution lines.1 When the Institute for Local Self-Reliance was founded in 1974, … Read More

25 Mar 2013

Listen: John Farrell Talks Local Energy Ownership with Arnie Arnesen on WNHN

by John Farrell | Date: 25 Mar 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0

Can energy decisions be made locally, energy generated locally, and energy owned locally? John answers those questions and talks about Solar 1.0 through 4.0 in this 20-minute discussion on Attitude with Arnie Arnesen on New Hampshire’s WNHN on March 20, 2013.