Local Energy Rules

With the release of ILSR’s new report, “Mighty Microgrids,” ILSR is releasing two podcasts with the developers and regulators of microgrids in the United States. This is the second podcast. In 2014, Chris Villarreal helped write the white paper, Microgrids: A Regulatory Perspective. As a regulatory analyst with the California Public Utilities Commission, he outlined the regulatory questions of microgrid development at a time when the state was mulling over how to allow more distributed, renewable energy come onto the grid. The questions weren’t small or easy to answer. Microgrids naturally straddle the definitions of utility and customer, of supply and demand, of community- and utility-ownership. Their existence and emergence points to a not-so-distant future when utilities simply manage different communities of distributed power generators, a departure from the historical monopolistic ownership style. Now Villarreal is a neighbor to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Minnesota, working as the Director of Policy for the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. He recently chatted with John Farrell about microgrids, their many uses, and what policies help or hinder their growth.

In anticipation of the release of ILSR’s new report, “Mighty Microgrids,” ILSR is releasing two podcasts with the developers, regulators, and practitioners of microgrids in the United States today. This is the first. Most microgrids today are single buildings that rely on diesel generators to run when the grid is out. They’re simple backup, redundant power. But some more advanced microgrids, such as the Clean Coalition’s planned community microgrids, are looking into the future, when multiple sources of generation can support a community of homes and businesses.

In April 2014, Exelon, the nation's largest nuclear power generator, made a $6.8 billion offer for Washington D.C.-based Pepco. Exelon - which already owns Illinois ComEd and Baltimore G&E - would become the largest electric utility in the country, with nearly 10 million customers. Shareholders, federal regulators, and many state utility commissions have approved the deal. But in August, the D.C. Public Service Commission unanimously rejected it, finding little public benefit. Now, just three months later, amid allegations of corruption, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has settled with Exelon and the D.C. Commission has been asked to reconsider. In this episode of Local Energy Rules, D.C. resident and executive director of the Community Power Network, Anya Schoolman, joins John Farrell to talk about why the merger is being reconsidered, the allegations against Mayor Bowser, and how the takeover seems like another story of energy monopoly at work.

The publicly-owned Sacramento Municipal Utility District, or SMUD, had already installed the first utility-scale PV array in the nation back in 1984. By the early 1990s, the utility saw a potential for rooftop solar and launched its PV Pioneer program, placing dozens of solar arrays on their customer’s rooftops, for a fee. The standardized rollout meant dramatic declines in the cost of solar, long before the industry had launched anywhere else. In June, ILSR’s Director of Democratic Energy John Farrell spoke with Brent Sloan, the “solar dude” at SMUD, to talk about these ahead-of-the-curve PV Pioneer programs and how his utility was created a viable rooftop solar market 20 years before other utility’s have “waved the white flag.”

Minnesota’s community solar garden program may be the envy of the nation — once the utility’s stall tactics have been stopped — but it needs a little help to fulfill the vision of bringing solar to all. That’s where Julia Nerbonne, executive director of Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light, comes in. In June 2015, John Farrell talked to Nerbonne about opening up community solar for everyone -- not just for people with high credit scores -- and what people of faith can do about it.

At the beginning of June 2015, ILSR released its Public Rooftop Revolution report, which described how cities across the nation put the shine on municipal rooftops with more than 5,000 MW of solar. That 5,000 MW is as much as one-quarter of all solar installed in the U.S. to date — and many cities could install solar little or no upfront cash. The energy savings would allow cities to redirect millions to other public goods. ILSR’s Director of Democratic Energy John Farrell presented the report’s findings in a webinar, hosted by Applied Solutions, on June 9, 2015. But time constraints meant many unanswered questions. In the first guest-hosted episode, John answers questions from Carolyn Glanton of Applied Solutions on everything from the expiration of federal tax credits to the payback period for municipal solar arrays.

There are a lot of stories on residential rooftop solar but few if any on what cities are doing to make themselves energy self-reliant by using their own buildings and lands to generate power. In Public Rooftop Revolution, ILSR estimates … Read More

There are a lot of stories on residential rooftop solar but few if any on what cities are doing to make themselves energy self-reliant by using their own buildings and lands to generate power. In Public Rooftop Revolution, ILSR estimates … Read More

There are a lot of stories on residential rooftop solar but few if any on what cities are doing to make themselves energy self-reliant by using their own buildings and lands to generate power. In Public Rooftop Revolution, ILSR estimates … Read More

Kansas City, MO, has neither the abundant sunshine nor high cost of electricity that have driven solar installations in other cities. Despite this, the city has close to 1.5 MW of solar in 59 separate installations on municipal properties. Thanks to utility rebates, two department leaders, and a unique opportunity that allowed it to access the 30% federal tax credit, the city was able to make solar work in an otherwise challenging climate of modest sun and low electricity prices. In April, ILSR’s John Farrell interviewed Charles Harris, project manager with the Kansas City. Harris suggested that the project got its start in 2006, when the city established a Climate Protection Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from municipal buildings while getting 15% of their energy from renewable sources.

There aren’t many solar success stories from the Southeast, making Raleigh, NC, stand out in a region with low-cost electricity and modest sunshine. With just over 2 megawatts of solar on public property––providing close to 7% of municipal building peak demand––Raleigh’s solar success comes despite state rules preventing city from buying electricity from any non-utility entity. In April 2015, John Farrell talked to Robert Hinson, renewable energy coordinator with the City of Raleigh, NC. In lieu of third-party power purchase agreements, Raleigh has pursued solar in three ways: by leasing space on public property to solar developers; owning solar and selling power to Duke Energy; and net metering a city-owned solar array.

Jason Caudle, city manager with the City of Lancaster, talked with John Farrell in April 2015 about his city’s solar boom. With more than 118 MW of solar, both private and public, operating within city limits, Lancaster is well on its way to producing or procuring 530 MW of clean energy by 2020. Hitting that target would make Lancaster one of the world’s first net-zero towns, producing more energy on an average day than the city consumes.

There are a lot of stories on residential rooftop solar but few if any on what cities are doing to make themselves energy self-reliant by using their own buildings and lands to generate power. In Public Rooftop Revolution, ILSR estimates … Read More

"San Diego and its community choice energy district would be able to offer a diverse energy mix with all of the solar, biodiesel, biogas, and energy storage resources that we have in San Diego.  A product that is price competitive and yet at the same time would strive for and achieve a higher level of renewable content." See how this southern California city is striving for more clean energy and more local control in this interview with Lane Sharman, co-founder and chair of the San Diego Energy District Foundation. This podcast was recorded via Skype on May 21, 2014. A Fight Against 'Solar Taxes' The rise of the San Diego Energy District Foundation was in response to fees proposed on solar customers by San Diego Gas and Electric in October 2011.  Thanks to the efforts of Lane, Bill Powers, and others in and outside of the foundation, the solar-crushing "Network Usage Fees" were not adopted. It was a particularly important win, because the fees would have applied to those customers who had already installed solar, with the expectation that they wouldn't pay extra for going solar. Pursuing More Local Energy Control The Energy District Foundation wasn't satisfied with stopping their monopoly utility from implementing bad policy, it wanted to create an energy system that put the community in charge of implementing policy that was positive for the economy and the environment. In 2012, members of the Foundation worked with Protect Our Communities, a nonprofit organization focused on using California's community choice aggregation law, to create a local entity in charge of greening up the city's energy supply with local power. They hope to follow in the footsteps of Marin County and Sonoma County in prioritizing local control of a cleaner energy system, at competitive prices. Why Public Power? The interest in local control over energy purchases is rooted in the inherent conflict of interest between ratepayers and their existing for-profit utility. Utilities in California make money by investing in hardware (power plants, power lines, and the like) and not finding the cleanest, lowest cost power for their ratepayers. In part, this is because taxpayers pick up the tab for pollution from fossil fuels.  A public entity is more likely to incorporate those externalities. Water, sewage, and education all provide examples of where the public sector provides excellent local service. How Renewable Can San Diego Be? A 2010 study called the San Diego Regional Plan for 100% Renewable Energy outlines the technical potential for clean energy in the region. But it's the market prices for clean power than are most encouraging.  Open bids for new energy in Texas, for example, had solar bidding in at 5¢ per kilowatt-hour compared to retail energy prices of 15¢ or more. The county has approved (in 2013) a comprehensive energy plan that will include an investigation of a local energy aggregation. A 'Monopoly Protection Act' Incumbent utilities don't much like the San Diego Energy District Foundation and its plan for local control of the energy system. The big three corporate monopoly utilities in California are behind a new bill (AB 2145) that would completely undermine community choice aggregation by changing a key provision of implementation.  Currently, when a local government establishes a local aggregation to purchase power on behalf of its residents and small businesses, these individuals may opt out. If AB 2145 passes, all potential participants would have to opt in. It effectively shields the monopoly utilities from competition, requiring a yet-to-be-operational local utility to spend thousands of dollars to attract customers before it sells a single kilowatt-hour. Furthermore, it would make energy procurement nearly impossible for the local utility, which would be unable to effectively plan and purchase power without a reasonable estimate of their market share. For more information on community choice aggregation,

"San Diego and its community choice energy district would be able to offer a diverse energy mix with all of the solar, biodiesel, biogas, and energy storage resources that we have in San Diego. A product that is price competitive and yet at the same time would strive for and achieve a higher level of renewable content." See how this southern California city is striving for more clean energy and more local control in this interview with Lane Sharman, co-founder and chair of the San Diego Energy District Foundation. This podcast was recorded via Skype on May 21, 2014.