John Farrell directs the Democratic Energy program at ILSR and he focuses on energy policy developments that best expand the benefits of local ownership and dispersed generation of renewable energy. His seminal paper, Democratizing the Electricity System, describes how to blast the roadblocks to distributed renewable energy generation, and how such small-scale renewable energy projects are the key to the biggest strides in renewable energy development. Farrell also authored the landmark report Energy Self-Reliant States, which serves as the definitive energy atlas for the United States, detailing the state-by-state renewable electricity generation potential. Farrell regularly provides discussion and analysis of distributed renewable energy policy on his blog, Energy Self-Reliant States (energyselfreliantstates.org), and articles are regularly syndicated on Grist and Renewable Energy World. John Farrell can also be found on Twitter @johnffarrell, or at jfarrell@ilsr.org.
September 26th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. When people pay their electric bill to an investor-owned utility such as Minnesota’s Xcel Energy, they [&hellip
September 19th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published at ilsr.org. Should utilities be able to add special fees on customers that have solar or small wind installations? [&hellip
September 13th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published at ilsr.org. Electric cooperatives arose from New Deal legislation that provided government-backed low-interest loans to bring electricity to rural [&hellip
September 7th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. I was the keynote speaker for the Salt Spring Community Energy Group’s 2016 Conference in British Columbia, Canada, on [&hellip
August 30th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published at ilsr.org. It’s not sexy. But it can make you warmer. It can even make you cooler. On-bill financing [&hellip
August 23rd, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published at ilsr.org. You may have missed our small change, but after rolling out our program logo back in December [&hellip
August 16th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Former CEO Dwight Brown (pictured right) did a number on the Cobb Electric Membership Corporation (EMC). Cobb EMC [&hellip
August 1st, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Below is part three of our City Power Play report, a report released in October 2013 (and still [&hellip
July 28th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Community Choice In most states, a city wanting to change its energy future has two options: beg [&hellip
July 25th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Keeping Energy Dollars Local Chattanooga, TN, is adding over $1 billion to its local economy in the [&hellip
July 19th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. In 2014, Chris Villarreal helped write the white paper, Microgrids: A Regulatory Perspective. As a regulatory analyst [&hellip
July 11th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Most microgrids today are single buildings that rely on diesel generators to run when the grid is [&hellip
July 5th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. This article was written by Nick Stumo-Langer, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Energy Democracy initiative’s Communications & Research [&hellip
June 27th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Maryland is the latest state to adopt a community solar program, and a review of the program [&hellip
June 21st, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. In April 2014, Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear power generator, made a $6.8 billion offer for Washington, [&hellip
June 13th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. How can a state modernize its electric system when it’s in the hands of vertically integrated monopolies? [&hellip
June 6th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. The publicly-owned Sacramento Municipal Utility District, or SMUD, had already installed the first utility-scale PV array in [&hellip
June 1st, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. There are many organizations in the energy space, and ILSR’s climate and energy advocacy overlaps substantially with the [&hellip
May 23rd, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Business as Usual No matter the path chosen, Hawai’i’s electricity will become more renewable over time, but [&hellip
May 20th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. How Much Renewable Energy? Below is part two of Hawai’i at the Energy Crossroads, a report released in [&hellip
May 16th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. On the one hand: Sky-high electricity prices. A 20th century electricity system burning fuel oil and controlled by [&hellip
May 9th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Register now for our webinar based on our newly-released report, Beyond Sharing: How Communities Can Take Ownership [&hellip
May 6th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Because they only sell 11% of the country’s electricity and they largely overlap politically conservative areas, electric [&hellip
May 2nd, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published at ilsr.org. The Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute just released a report analyzing the top 25 US investor-owned electric [&hellip
April 26th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Energy storage is the “next charge” for distributed renewable energy, and the small town of Minster, OH, [&hellip
April 18th, 2016 | by John Farrell
This article originally posted at ilsr.org. For timely updates, follow John Farrell on Twitter or get the Democratic Energy weekly [&hellip
April 11th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Earlier this year, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory released a new estimate of rooftop solar potential, an [&hellip
April 4th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Introduction Decades after cities lit the first electric lamps in the 1880s, most of the rural places [&hellip
March 28th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. Like mine, your eyes probably glaze when you see items like “fuel cost adjustment clause,” but tucked [&hellip
March 21st, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. In any conversation about the transition to a renewable energy economy, solar and wind advocates will eventually [&hellip
March 15th, 2016 | by John Farrell
Originally published on ilsr.org. This article was written by Matt Grimley, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Energy Democracy initiative’s Research Associate. [&hellip
March 7th, 2016 | by John Farrell
This article originally posted at ilsr.org. This article was written by Matt Grimley, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Energy Democracy [&hellip
Cleantech Revolution Tour → Wrocław October 8–9, Wrocław, Poland
Stimulating the greater adoption of electric vehicles and solar energy, and better cleantech startups.
Yale Sustainability Leadership Forum, September 21–23, New Haven, CT (US)
Bringing together business, government, NGOs, and academia, to examine the concept of sustainability.
More details are on: Cleantech Events.
