The shift toward electric vehicles means more than cleaner, greener transportation. It offers an opportunity to build out new infrastructure in a way that supports local economies and a pathway to bolstering local renewable energy, all while generating meaningful cost savings for drivers nationwide.
In most states with regulated, monopoly utilities, utilities are compensation based on two factors: energy sales and a return on capital spent, such as when they build a new power plant. Although energy efficiency standards have been layered on top of this model, the fundamental incentive for the utility remains “build things, get rewards for shareholders.”
Measure 2L passed with 51.7% of the vote, keeping Boulder on course to make history as first city to municipalize its electric company in years, and the only one ever to do it specifically to advance clean, local power.
Puerto Rico’s history of intervention and mismanagement created a financially disastrous backdrop for Hurricane Maria.
A wave of consolidation has swept across the U.S. economy over the past decade, reshaping already-powerful corporations into financial and political powerhouses. The trend has taken particular hold among electric utilities, a sector where monopoly reigns virtually unchecked.
A citizen-led effort to establish a city-run electric utility in the small northeast Iowa community of Decorah is picking up steam, with advocates — including some local officials — forecasting significant local economic growth powered by the transition.
Originally published on ilsr.org. From ILSR’s newest report on electric vehicles, here are six reasons your next car should be electric: 1. Fun: Electric vehicle motors provide more torque and instant acceleration at any speed than internal combustion engines. 2. Save Money: Over 10 years, owning an electric car will save you … [continued]
Today, there’s a battle brewing across the US to reinvigorate a little-used law and bring it into alignment with a modern marketplace riper than ever for small-scale renewables. Like other policies that present compelling local economic value — among them net metering and community solar — PURPA lives or dies by its implementation.
I’ve gotten a lot of inquiries about Minnesota’s community solar program since its launch in December 2014, and it’s time to make something clear: Minnesota’s program is the best in the country.
Minnesota’s largest utility is planning a pilot community solar program specifically targeted to low-income customers, an important first step in bridging significant gaps in accessing the benefits of the state’s burgeoning clean energy economy.
