In 2011, the neighborhoods of Highland Park, Michigan, went dark. The utility company had repossessed streetlights to collect on the city’s debt. Unwilling to stand idly by, the people of Highland Park organized to light the streets themselves using off-grid, renewable energy.
Trading excess generation with neighbors is no longer science fiction, writes independent energy expert Fereidoon Sioshansi, publisher of the newsletter EEnergy Informer. An experiment in Switzerland shows that peer-to-peer trading is ready to be scaled up.
Every time someone buys or leases an EV, fossil fuel’s stranglehold lessens. That’s the cost differentiation between EVs and ICEs. The individual benefit, as I am enjoying, is autonomy and the opportunity to have free electricity for cars and homes. EVs are thinking people’s cars, yes, and it takes planning and work, but we’ll have a better life and planet for it.
The legislative session is over and the bill was tabled, so New Mexico will be better known for its Energy Transition Act (and its liabilities) for now. But the community solar language that passed the state House in February could set a new standard for community solar program design.
Rivian hosted a roundtable discussion for 800 of its reservation holders to talk a little bit about how the company is progressing in the move to production. They also took the opportunity to talk about an exciting microgrid project they’re working on with the Honnold Foundation in Puerto Rico.
The cumulative value of residential solar installations for utilities is comprised of two different parts: the generation of electricity to the grid, and the avoided cost of building new generation. While the former is fairly straightforward and owners are compensated through net metering or other rate schemes, the latter is difficult to assess and thus far homeowners have received little compensation.
A grassroots solar energy revolution is bubbling up across the country among hundreds of nonprofits, with help from — shocker! — the US Dept. of Energy.
sonnen Partners On Passive House Community Powered By Smart Energy Storage
On the evening of July 3, 2018, a wildfire broke out a half mile from the Rocky Mountain Institute office in Basalt, Colorado, in the heart of the Roaring Fork Valley. This fire—dubbed the Lake Christine Fire—spread to engulf more than 12,500 acres and came within minutes of shutting down power to the upper Roaring Fork Valley.
Out of fire came solar — and transformation to energy independence for the Spokane Indian tribe.
