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.

In this edition of Local Energy Rules, John Farrell and Wade Underwood speak with Bill Moyer of the Backbone Campaign about a nascent community solar project in Vashon, WA. We ask Bill about his involvement with the project as a community organizer—delving into the frustrating regulatory barriers that have kept the project from coming to fruition, and working towards a more accurate definition of community solar. The project was motivated by a generous production incentive offered in Washington State for solar projects installed on public property. Bill and residents of King County hoped to keep more energy dollars in the local economy by using this incentive to create a community solar project. But it wasn’t smooth sailing.

In this edition of Local Energy Rules, John Farrell and Wade Underwood speak with Bill Moyer of the Backbone Campaign about a nascent community solar project in Vashon, WA. We ask Bill about his involvement with the project as a community organizer—delving into the frustrating regulatory barriers that have kept the project from coming to fruition, and working towards a more accurate definition of community solar. The project was motivated by a generous production incentive offered in Washington State for solar projects installed on public property. Bill and residents of King County hoped to keep more energy dollars in the local economy by using this incentive to create a community solar project. But it wasn’t smooth sailing.   In trying to bring the project to fruition, Bill ran into many limitations of the state incentive program. Bill notes, “People’s eyes glazed over” with confusion as he tried to explain all the regulations standing between them and local community solar. Among the most frustrating barriers were the time constraints on the incentive period, which expires in 2020. Identifying an appropriate site took a year and a half, for example, cutting into the time to find the best way to organize investors.  The state-level version of the Securities and Exchange Commission has rules that make it hard to organize capital with the clock ticking on the incentive, the project is stalled. Despite the trials of his own project, Bill gives us reason to believe there will be better news in the future of community solar.  More and more people are looking for ways to plug what he calls “equity leaks,” dollars leaving the community, and energy is a prime opportunity.  As states improve their policies for distributed renewable energy, it will open the door to more community solar. This is the second edition of Local Energy Rules, a new ILSR podcast that will be published twice monthly, on 1st and 3rd Thursday.  In this podcast series, ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell talks with people putting together great community renewable energy projects and examining how energy policies help or hurt the development of clean, local power.   Click to subscribe to the podcast: iTunes or RSS/XML, sign up for new podcast notifications and weekly email updates from the energy program!

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.

What began as a group of neighbors hoping to reduce their impact on global warming has since become a major force for solar advocacy in Washington, DC. The Mount Pleasant Solar Cooperative was started by two teenage boys who wanted to make solar power convenient and affordable through a bulk-purchase program. Along the way, the cooperatives new members realized that buying power wasn’t enough, and sought out changes in the district’s energy policies. Today the Mount Pleasant Solar Cooperative has helped to get solar panels on over 10 percent of the homes in the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood and has grown into a city-wide political organization.

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.

In this podcast series, ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell talks with people putting together great community renewable energy projects and examining how energy policies help or hurt the development of clean, local power.   Click to subscribe to the podcast: iTunes or RSS/XML. Local Energy Rules Podcast: Ep1 What began as a group of neighbors hoping to reduce their impact on global warming has since become a major force for solar advocacy in Washington, DC. The Mount Pleasant Solar Cooperative was started by two teenage boys who wanted to make solar power convenient and affordable through a bulk-purchase program. Along the way, the cooperatives new members realized that buying power wasn’t enough, and sought out changes in the district’s energy policies.  Today the Mount Pleasant Solar Cooperative has helped to get solar panels on over 10 percent of the homes in the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood and has grown into a city-wide political organization. In December 2012, John Farrell spoke to Anya Schoolman about the growing political role of the Mount Pleasant Solar Cooperative in the larger D.C. area.  As Anya explains, their success is attributed to an on-going cycle of project development, organization and policy work, a process that has proven successful since the cooperative started in 2006.  Having achieved many of their immediate goals for more affordable community solar--and with a growing network of solar constituents--the cooperative hopes to continue pushing for legislation that will enable solar in greater D.C. Anya’s most recent undertaking is connecting with other groups looking to develop community-based solar and other renewable energy projects. The Community Power Network, a directory of grassroots organizations working to build locally-based renewable energy projects, was started as a vast information resource and communication hub for interested organizations. Through the Community Power Network, Anya and activists across the country are able to share their experiences, expertise and technical assistance to grow community power. This is the first edition of Local Energy Rules, a new ILSR podcast that will be published twice monthly, on 1st and 3rd Thursday.  Sign up for new podcast notifications and weekly email updates from the energy program! Click to subscribe to the podcast