New England offers some of the nation’s biggest incentives for renewable energy generation, but high upfront costs and complicated financing mean many residents are still missing out on the opportunity to go solar. But one cooperative, with a series of pioneering programs, is beginning to change that. Co-op Power, headquartered in Massachusetts, has steadily built up … Read More
See our full energy research hot spot to explore Inclusive Financing policies.… Read More
Net metering is a common distributed renewable energy policy in the United States, allowing individuals to “turn back” their meter (and reduce their electric bill) by generating on-site electricity. But utility accounting systems typically prevent people from sharing the output from a single, common solar or wind project. Virtual (or group or neighborhood) net metering (now … Read More
This week in Energy Democracy news: Battles abound over energy policy across the United States, small town renewable energy builds local communities, and new interstate highway electric vehicle infrastructure proposed. Featured Stories Being Black still a barrier to rural cooperative board membership by John Farrell, CleanTechnica Size really doesn’t matter for renewable energy arrays by John … Read More
Energy efficiency and renewables represent the most promising pathway to lower energy costs for individual consumers and utilities. But limited access hinders progress. Utilities can knock down major barriers to energy efficiency and renewables by allowing customers to make site-specific investments and recovering utility costs through an opt-in tariff. … Read More
The U.S. energy economy faces unprecedented pressure to integrate clean and renewable fuel sources like wind and solar, but after a distracting 2016 presidential campaign sidelined energy policy, troubling and untenable gaps in the president-elect’s strategy remain unchecked. In the run-up to Tuesday’s election, the lone flicker of interest in clean energy was promptly extinguished when … Read More
On Monday, December 5th from 12:00-1:00PM CST, John Farrell will be delivering a webinar, titled “Is Bigger Best in Renewable Energy?” Conventional wisdom suggest the biggest wind and solar power plants will be cheapest, but where they deliver power, and who owns them, matters more. In this webinar, John Farrell will present the findings from his … Read More
Two key moves this year will propel San Francisco’s toward an all-renewable electricity mix by 2030, potentially making the city — the 13th largest in the nation — a model for others eyeing a similar transition. This is part of a series released in October 2016 for Energy Awareness Month highlighting communities and community energy projects … Read More
Wisconsin’s coal-reliant utilities remain cool to wind and solar despite mounting enthusiasm for renewables. This intransigence places them squarely in the crosshairs of one grassroots group leveraging support from customers and policymakers in order to realign the state’s energy economy with the public good. This is part of a series released in October 2016 for Energy … Read More
