I spent the past two weeks saying goodbye to my father, Jim Farrell, so instead of my usual discussion of good policy and practices for distributed renewable energy, I’m taking time to explore how my dad’s work on sustainability fits with how I approach it in this blog (and elsewhere) in my work for the Institute for … Read More
Minneapolis MN (July 25, 2013) – In a groundbreaking agreement announced yesterday, the gas utility serving Minneapolis – CenterPoint Energy – will work with the city of Minneapolis to achieve a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. The agreement, negotiated with the grassroots campaign Minneapolis Energy Options, secures the support of the gas utility … Read More
This presentation by Director of Democratic Energy John Farrell shows the politics, process, and policy that led to Minnesota becoming the 17th state with a solar or distributed renewable energy standard in 2013. Delivered to a webinar audience of Oregonians for Renewable Energy Progress (OREP) on July 16, 2013, it explains the new solar standard, the … Read More
The word “parity” is to the solar advocate as the word “abracadabra” is to the magician. Through it, all things are possible. But there’s really two kinds of solar parity with electricity prices, and the difference is significant. Take this article from Renewable Energy World last month. It claims that solar installations in New Mexico are … Read More
From outdated technical rules to local permitting to incentive policies, there are opportunities to increase the potential for local solar. This is the fourth of five parts of our Rooftop Revolution report being published in serial. Read Part 1 or Part 2 or Part 3. Download the entire report and see our other resources here. Removing … Read More
When President Obama unveils his climate policy proposal in the coming days, he should focus on the one key element of successful climate and energy policy. It’s not about utilities or incentives or numbers, it’s about ownership. Climate-protecting energy policy succeeds when communities can keep their energy dollars local by directly owning and profiting from investments … Read More
The coming of solar grid parity offers an opportunity for millions of Americans to go solar affordably. But it also means a potential transformation, a democratization of an electricity system long dominated by centrally-controlled utilities and centralized ownership and production of electricity. When solar can undercut grid electricity prices, it may also undercut this 20th century … Read More
Over the weekend the campaign for a municipal utility option in Minneapolis, MN, got another boost: the endorsement of the city Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The campaign’s goal is to increase clean, affordable, reliable, and local energy deployment in the city through meaningful negotiations with the utilities over their expiring franchise contracts in 2014, or by exercising the … Read More
When I wrote two weeks ago that Master Limited Partnerships are a Lousy Policy for Solar, Wind, and Taxpayers, I was aware that it wasn’t a widely held view. The piece has done more than provide another viewpoint on the complicated corporate structure, it has ignited a significant debate across the renewable energy community about the … Read More
