Originally posted at ilsr.org. It seems crazy that electric companies would have anything against customers who spend their own money to reduce their energy use with clean, local solar power. But any number of utilities are slapping excessive fees and charges on customers with solar to slow or stop them. Here’s … [continued]
Originally posted at ilsr.org. In the past five years, rooftop solar has revealed the limitations of the archaic electric utility business model, as customers have found generating their own power more cost effective than taking 100% of their energy from the incumbent monopoly. For years, utilities have fought back by … [continued]
Originally posted at ilsr.org I’ve been asked a lot of questions about Minnesota’s community solar program over the past couple of years, and it’s time to make one thing clear: Minnesota’s program is the best in the country. Why? No Limits Because there are 10 times more community solar projects … [continued]
Originally posted at ilsr.org. American electric utilities are creations of the 20th century, depending heavily on their protected monopolies to deliver economical electricity. But the growth in energy efficiency, cost-effective distributed energy like solar, and sophisticated tools for energy management (like smartphone apps) have introduced many competitive pressures. Can we … [continued]
Originally posted at ilsr.org A new report released last week asserts that utility-scale solar is much more economical than small-scale solar. The clear implication is that we should let incumbent utilities build or buy solar from large-scale arrays instead of allowing customers to generate their own power. There are several … [continued]
A city in the sunny southwest, Tucson is wondering how it can maximize its use of cost-effective, economy-boosting solar power. Is a partnership with the electric utility, as seen in Minneapolis, the answer? ILSR’s Director of Democratic Energy gave this presentation to several audiences on a recent (delightful) visit to … [continued]
When Robert Nohavec of Park City, Utah; Jabbar Graham from Cherry Hill, New Jersey; and Don Born, of Waldoboro, Maine installed solar on their homes, they had something unexpected in common. They were all giving back to their electric company and their community. That’s because solar energy systems tend to … [continued]
Originally posted at ilsr.org 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 that mid-sized cities could install as … [continued]
Originally posted at ilsr.org If your electricity—generated from imported oil—is the most expensive in the country and your solar resource is terrific, you’d expect your electric company to be making great strides toward renewable energy. On Hawai’i, the progress toward clean energy is in limbo, because island’s largest electric utility—largely … [continued]
Originally posted at ilsr.org The city of Beaverton, OR, is getting a new solar array that will offset energy use at an underground reservoir, saving taxpayers $95,000 per year, with no upfront cost. Ventura County, CA, has a 1-megawatt solar array on its jail facility that’s cash-flow positive. Denver, CO, … [continued]
