A presentation by ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell to a Disaster Law class at William Mitchell Law School on 9/17/12. It examines the five major barriers to the expansion of community-based and conventional distributed renewable energy, including the tradition of utility control, raising capital, cash flow, legal, and utilities themselves. View the presentation below: Barriers to Distributed … Read More
If you’re wondering why there’ less content on Energy Self-Reliant States lately, it’s because our Minneapolis office is moving for the first time in 20 years. Here’s a few photos from our moving preparations. The Minneapolis office “technology history room” with over a decade of old Apple laptops (since recycled): Piles of boxes waiting to depart. … Read More
In this video, Mayor Susan Osborne of Boulder, Colo., presents to an audience in Minneapolis, Minn., about why her city opted to take over the electric company, after years of futile negotiations for more local renewable energy.… Read More
Earlier this week, Lawrence Berkeley Labs released a marvelous comparison of residential PV costs in Germany and the United States, finally putting some detail to an enormous gulf in costs (nearly $3.00 per Watt). The following chart (from page 35 of the presentation) shows the cost difference broken down into 9 categories, with ILSR’s addition of … Read More
A story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune today highlights the increasingly common use of 100 meter wind turbines for new wind power projects, up from the previous 80 meter standard. The technological change grabs more wind energy, with consistently higher wind speeds at higher altitudes, meaning states can get even more power from a similar number … Read More
Update 12/20/12: This project includes battery storage. Just last month, the Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association, serving communities just north and west of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, announced Minnesota’s first community solar project. The 40 kW solar array will be located at the cooperative’s headquarters, with members allowed to purchase individual panels in the project for … Read More
Colorado just launched their long-awaited community solar gardens law (program subscribed in 30 minutes) and California is progressing on a virtual net metering law that could remove one of many roadblocks to community solar. But the Vashon Community Solar Project in Washington State shows that doing solar community-style hasn’t become easy. The Vashon project will be … Read More
Does a Riverside County, CA, residential energy financing program put thousands of homeowners on a collision course with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)? In a proposed rule-making, the FHFA has suggested that Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) policies represent a threat to the safety and soundness of mortgages held by government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. … Read More
This presentation by ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell explains how – despite solar power that is cheaper than grid electricity – Hawaii homes and businesses still encounter barriers to going solar. You can also download the full report in PDF, for Kindle, or for your Apple iDevice and sign up for updates on ILSR’s energy work. … Read More
