Local Energy Rules

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.

How can a community take control of its energy future from a 100-year monopoly electric utility?  Citizens of Boulder, CO, are testing answers to that question, trying to discover how a single city can do more for its economy and the environment with more power over its energy system. At the core of their efforts is a grassroots campaign to form a city-owned utility, an effort that faced an enormous test at the ballot box in November 2013. We spoke with New Era Colorado executive director Stephen Fenberg about the grassroots campaign to fight Xcel Energy and build a better energy future via Skype on Dec. 6, 2013. Is the War Won? I asked Stephen if the victory at the ballot box in November 2013 meant the war was won for local control of the energy system. "There's no saying there won't be another electoral fight...in a lot of ways, we won that same election (albeit by a much narrower margin) in 2011." While it's less likely that Xcel will go back to the ballot for another fight after this defeat, says Stephen, the implementation and policy battle is just beginning. "The city is starting condemnation proceedings in January of 2014...it could take a couple of years before we're officially able to pull the trigger and create the utility of our own." Was Crowdfunding the Difference? Unlike their 2011 ballot fight (see this video from former Boulder mayor Susan Osborne), the grassroots team had stronger financial support – nearly $200,000 – from a remarkable crowdfunding campaign.  We asked Stephen if that was the only difference, and he said that the money helped, but it was the passion of the people that mattered the most. "We had more organizers on the ground, we knocked on more doors, we made more phone calls to voters...You can run a campaign with money or run a campaign with people...the core of our campaign was people...we had hundreds and hundreds of volunteers who were there for the right reasons...because they were passionate about clean energy, passionate about local control, passionate about making sure a corporation wasn't buying our elections." What's the Most Important Lesson for Other Cities? "Municipalization might not be the answer for everybody," says Stephen, but its most important to "have a process where the community has bought in." He notes that state laws are different around municipalization and that communities should pursue what works for them. His goal in being a model for other cities is "not everybody municipalizes, but the there's the threat...communities should have the leverage to get what they're asking for.  At the end of the day, they're the customer.  And if they're being provided a product that's not in line with their values they should be able to have the leverage to demand something better." Building Interest Across the Country Thousands of people reached out to the Boulder campaign, especially at the peak of the crowdfunding campaign.  They wanted to know what they could do in their own town and they were from all across the country: West Coast, East Coast, conservative, liberal. They all had the same message: "We're not getting [a] solution from the federal government. People are excited and it gave them hope that there are things you can do on the local level that can have a big impact." For more information on the Boulder electric utility municipalization campaign, see: How the campaign came about and how it won its first major victory in 2011 A video presentation of former Boulder mayor Susan Osborne sharing Boulder's story with a crowd in Minneapolis in September 2012, and a podcast interview with her on the same subject in 2013. A podcast interview with Ken Regelson on the energy model that showed how Boulder could double renewable energy and halve climate emissions without raising electricity prices. A podcast interview with Mariel Nanasi about a similar fight for local energy choice in Santa Fe, NM. New Era Colorado,

How can a community take control of its energy future from a 100-year monopoly electric utility? Citizens of Boulder, CO, are testing answers to that question, trying to discover how a single city can do more for its economy and the environment with more power over its energy system. At the core of their efforts is a grassroots campaign to form a city-owned utility, an effort that faced an enormous test at the ballot box in November 2013. We spoke with New Era Colorado executive director Stephen Fenberg about the grassroots campaign to fight Xcel Energy and build a better energy future via Skype on Dec. 6, 2013.

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.

For years, the only effective way to go solar was to have tens of thousands of dollars and a sunny roof. Investing in solar was nearly impossible. But a couple years ago, a new notion called crowdfunding got its start, and California-Based Mosaic was on the forefront. Its crowdfunding program allows people to pool their resources, large or small, to build community-based solar installations. It’s not about charity, either. Mosaic’s pioneering crowdfunding effort is letting people across the country earn a modest return on their solar investment and putting clean local power on rooftops everywhere. We spoke with Mosaic president Billy Parish via Skype in mid-February about the potential for crowdfunding to give most Americans a chance to invest in renewable energy.

For years, the only effective way to go solar was to have tens of thousands of dollars and a sunny roof.  Investing in solar was nearly impossible.  But a couple years ago, a new notion called crowdfunding got its start, and California-Based Mosaic was on the forefront.  Its crowdfunding program allows people to pool their resources, large or small, to build community-based solar installations.  It’s not about charity, either.  Mosaic’s pioneering crowdfunding effort is letting people across the country earn a modest return on their solar investment and putting clean local power on rooftops everywhere. We spoke with Mosaic president Billy Parish via Skype in mid-February about the potential for crowdfunding to give most Americans a chance to invest in renewable energy. How is Mosaic Different? "We've gone through through the very difficult process of getting a lender's license, getting securities approvals from state and federal regulators to offer our investments...people can make a return on their investment...earning 4.5 to 7.5% annually." Many other crowdfunding platforms rely on donations – charitable contributions – to finance local or community-based solar energy projects. The return is mostly emotional or intellectual.  Mosaic is changing the game, letting people put their money into solar, and getting them a financial return, too. Can Crowdfunding Work with Community Solar? "Yes. We're about to be funding our first community solar project, where people will be getting a credit on their bill for participating...our crowdfunders are financing the project." It's "doubly community crowdfunded when you have crowdfunding of a community solar project." Crowdfunding Individual Solar "It's lowering the cost of capital for people to go solar." The state of Connecticut has a Green Bank for financing renewable energy and Mosaic is helping them broaden financing to include crowd finance. The bank provides junior debt and a first loss fund to make financing solar very attractive, and Mosaic (and other investors) provides the senior debt for solar on individual properties. But unlike other investors, Mosaic's funding comes from the crowd, not big banks. Limitations? "We're just beginning to test the limits of crowdfunding." There are examples in other places, a $100 million development in Colombia, and several in Europe that hint how crowd finance could get much bigger. Parish thinks that communities will increasingly use crowdfunding for "all of the essential infrastructure they need to thrive in the 21st Century." Who's Interested? "We've been approached by a number of municipal utilities interested in enabling their residents to directly invest in the clean energy assets they buy electricity from." Mosaic is also working with investor owned utilities interested in alternatives to traditional financing. Expansion / the JOBS Act To offer investments to everyone around the country, it's necessary to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and develop a structure that works. "Nobody has done that yet." Instead, Mosaic and others have worked within particular states or with high net worth (accredited) investors. The 2012 JOBS Act promised to make crowdfunding a lot easier for regular folks to participate. "Part of that bill has been implemented and part of it is still being interpreted.  We actually don't know...how that's going to turn out..." What's Next? "We want to see millions of people investing in solar projects in their community and around the world." Mosaic already has a couple dozen commercial-scale projects and over 3,000 investors, and they want to rapidly expand that opportunity. Part of the expansion will be into the residential/individual market, providing financing for individuals to go solar, but it will also be into new areas.  In addition to solar, Mosaic is looking at crowdfunding for electric vehicles, energy efficiency, and wind power.  

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.

Laboring to keep more of its energy dollars at home, community members in Boulder, CO, decided that they needed some numbers behind their vision of a cleaner energy utility. Listen in to the podcast to hear Ken Regelson describe how the remarkable results of Boulder’s citizen-driven energy model have given them power to stand up to the incumbent electric monopoly with a vision for a 21st century clean energy system. We interviewed Ken via Skype (apologies for the random construction noise) on Dec. 5, 2013.

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.

Laboring to keep more of its energy dollars at home, community members in Boulder, CO, decided that they needed some numbers behind their vision of a cleaner energy utility.  Listen in to the podcast to hear Ken Regelson describe how the remarkable results of Boulder’s citizen-driven energy model have given them power to stand up to the incumbent electric monopoly with a vision for a 21st century clean energy system. We interviewed Ken via Skype (apologies for the random construction noise) on Dec. 5, 2013. A Remarkable Clean Energy Opportunity The story of Boulder's quest for a cleaner electricity system and its fight for local control are becoming legend.  Listen to Episode 5 of Local Energy Rules to hear the story firsthand from Boulder's former mayor, Susan Osborne. Ken's tale begins mid-way, when the need for data became a paramount part of the local effort. The results of Boulder’s new energy model are nothing short of transformational. The technical and financial model of a new energy system was projected to: Offer lower rates to residential, commercial and industrial customers, not just on “day one” but over a 20-year time frame; Maintain or exceed current levels of reliability, and future investments could enhance dependability; Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent from current levels and exceed the Kyoto Protocol goals within the first year; Get 54 percent or more of its power from renewable resources, such as wind, hydro and solar; Create a model public utility that would allow for innovation in everything from energy efficiency to customer service.The energy model allowed the citizens of Boulder to “tell a story to the public about an electric utility that could be very innovative into the future.” (1:30) Why Model? In late 2010, the grassroots advocates of a cleaner energy future in Boulder were tired of getting rolled by Xcel Energy at the state’s Public Utilities Commission. The utility would show up, and in response to the city’s request for more clean power development, respond with, “our model says...we can only do this much renewables.” Ken and others formed a team of 20 or more individuals to create an alternative model.  The key was a modeling software tool called HOMER energy system, and it allowed the citizen-led effort to offer a credible alternative to Xcel’s intransigence. “You want to be credible when you stand up in front of a group of people...when you stand up and show a graph and you say ‘our modeling shows that based on these assumptions we can do 50% renewables at rate parity with Xcel.’  Then you have a very different discussion with people.” Is Their Energy Model Good? At this point, it’s not just a citizen-driven effort.  The city of Boulder has invested its own resources in making the model more robust: challenging assumptions, refining numbers, etc.  They’ve had the original volunteers, but also experts like retired electrical engineers and former commissioners from the Public Utilities Commission. The city also hired a third-party, independent reviewer – Gregory Booth – to review the legal, technical, and other aspects of Boulder’s model.  In his words: “I’ve never seen anyone do an acquisition study in such detail and with as many components as Boulder has.  I have performed $1 billion of worth of successful acquisition projects and I promise you that those models didn’t come anywhere near the level of study and risk assessment as Boulder does. “Put another way,” says Regelson, “Boulder gets an A+ on their modeling efforts.” Can Other Cities Do It? We knew that if this only happened in Boulder it wouldn’t be enough, says Regelson, and that fighting climate change would be more.  That’s why they heavily documented their assumptions and their modeling process so that other cities could follow in their footsteps. The other lesson, the key issue of modeling is that we can do a lot of renewables,

"It's the most inspirational work that I'm doing...this is an inspirational and aspirational effort...at the heart of it is love of place and energy democracy." Citizens of Santa Fe, NM, are exploring the economic and environmental benefits of more local and locally-controlled energy production.  Is their city ready to take the lead? Find out in this interview with Executive Director Mariel Nanasi of New Energy Economy, recorded via Skype on November 22, 2013.   A Failure to Take Advantage The incumbent electric monopoly serving Santa Fe, Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), gets just 1% of its energy from solar in a state that some call the "Saudi Arabia of solar." The result is a citizen-driven movement to explore a city-owned utility, and to make the most of the local renewable resource. Mariel says, "I look at my kids in their eyes.  I don't say 'you have so much potential' and leave it at that.  I want them to maximize their potential....We have abundant solar and wind resources in New Mexico.  The incumbent monopoly has failed to take advantage." New Energy Economy commissioned a study to see what would happen if the city, becoming the electric utility, did take advantage of its local resource.  The results are remarkable. Doubling Efficiency, Doubling Renewables, Cutting Costs In a study released in December 2012 and benignly titled "Preliminary Economic Feasibility Assessment of a Publicly-Owned Electric Utility for the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County," the city learned that an energy switch to public power could be momentous: It could double savings from energy efficiency from 8% to 20% It could more than double renewable energy production from 20% to 45% It could cut coal's share of their energy supply from 60% to zero It could increase the percent of local energy fivefold (and possibly much further with local utility-scale solar and city ownership of a combined-cycle natural gas power plant) It could increase customer-sited and -scaled energy from a pittance to over 11% It could cut energy bills by 10-15% As Mariel says, the study says Santa Fe has "the potential to create leading edge innovations in energy efficiency and renewable energy and related economic development." Lessons from Las Cruces: A David and Goliath Fight Santa Fe has two local examples that will inform their quest for cleaner, more local, public power. The first is the local water utility, which "highlights our ability to put our values to work."  The city purchased the water utility from a private monopoly 10 years ago and it is now "one of the most respected water utilities in the country" for its efforts on conservation and furthermore, "It is profitable for the city of Santa Fe." The second is a failed attempt to municipalize the electric utility in nearby Las Cruces.  After a 10 year effort, the bid to take over the electric system from El Paso Electric failed by a single vote in the 1990s, after the incumbent corporate utility helped finance the successful campaign of a city council candidate who voted against the last $30 million appropriation necessary to complete the deal. The lesson from Las Cruces, according to the lawyer that represented the city, is that the question of municipalization is not about which entity is better – that's self-evident (see the study) – but 'is there sufficient political will to fight the incumbent monopoly?' "PNM will do shady things...will do everything in their power...will ask their friends at Edison Electric...create phony nonprofits...try to pay off people...to quash public power," notes Mariel.  There's even a corporate utility-written handbook for defeating public power efforts.  (There's a response, too, from the American Public Power Association called Straight Answers to False Charges Against Public Power). Already, PNM is already talking to mayoral candidates in Santa Fe in preparation for the political battle.  It is,

"It's the most inspirational work that I'm doing...this is an inspirational and aspirational effort...at the heart of it is love of place and energy democracy." Citizens of Santa Fe, NM, are exploring the economic and environmental benefits of more local and locally-controlled energy production. Is their city ready to take the lead? Find out in this interview with Executive Director Mariel Nanasi of New Energy Economy, recorded via Skype on November 22, 2013.

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.

"We can avoid that $100 million investment in transmission lines, distribution lines, in capital infrastructure..." How can a utility like Long Island Power Authority avoid all that new capital expenditure? Find out in this interview with Vice President of Environmental Affairs Michael Deering, recorded via Skype on November 25, 2013.