Solar Energy in Missouri Means Jobs, Savings, and a Low-Cost Future

Date: 9 Apr 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

There are a lot of utility-sponsored legislative and regulatory attacks on solar energy lately, and we put together this infographic to help the Missouri Solar Energy Industries Association fight back in their state. Click the image to see it full size.   This article originally posted at ilsr.org. For timely updates, follow John Farrell on Twitter … Read More

Why Utilities Are Hating on Their Solar-Producing Customers

Date: 1 Apr 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

I have the privilege of talking to a lot of reporters about rooftop solar energy, and particularly about why utilities seem hell bent on stopping their customers from using their own money to add clean, renewable energy to the electric grid. If this seems confusing to you, too, here’s a quick primer with some key resources. … Read More

Rhode Island Standard Contracts Program Grows Distributed Generation

Date: 24 Mar 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This is an invited guest post from Virginia Rutter of Eutectics. By the end of 2019, Rhode Island has a goal to have 200 MW of distributed renewable energy generation in the state, most of it solar. The primary means by which Rhode Island means to meet this goal is through the use of standardized cost-based … Read More

Listen: Can an Old Utility (dog) Learn New Tricks?

Date: 16 Mar 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Arnie Arnesen interviewed ILSR’s Director of Democratic Energy John Farrell on WNHN’s The Attitude last week, seeking an answer to this question: can we expect electric utilities to embrace the energy sources of the future, like solar? Electric Utilities Play by the (Old) Rules Arnie and John discussed the hesitance of utilities to embrace innovation and … Read More

Small-Scale Solar Contributes 13% of New Power Plant Capacity in 2014

Date: 10 Mar 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The growth of solar has continued at a furious pace, with a new record of 6.2 gigawatts installed in the United States in 2014. But the bigger tale may be the persistent growth of small-scale solar, on residential and non-residential rooftops (and property).  These projects, a megawatt or smaller, contributed 13% of new power plant capacity … Read More

Solar Parity Coming Faster Than Expected

Date: 6 Mar 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Back in 2012, ILSR released a pair of reports on the solar Rooftop Revolution, noting that one-third of Americans would live in a metropolitan area where the cost of solar energy from their roof would be less than the cost of power from the utility by 2021. When combined with our analysis of non-residential property, we … Read More

Can a State’s Solar Party Start Without It?

Date: 27 Feb 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

See our March 2018 update affirming these findings In about half of U.S. states, an individual or business can have solar installed on their roof owned by someone else, and either buy the power or lease the array from that third party. These power purchase or lease models drastically simplify the process of going solar (at … Read More

Could Solar Shine in a Tucson City-Utility Partnership?

Date: 20 Feb 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

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 Tucson, Arizona, to explore the dissonance … Read More

How and Why Utilities Make Solar Look Expensive

Date: 11 Feb 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

I’m visiting the wonderful folks from Sustainable Tucson in Arizona next week to talk about the opportunities that solar and clean energy offer their local economy. In preparation, I’m looking at their current monopoly electricity provider, Tucson Electric Power. Remarkably, the utility acquires just 4% of its electricity from renewable resources (and over 70% from coal), … Read More

1 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 115