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About John Farrell

John Farrell directs the Energy Self-Reliant States and Communities program at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and he focuses on energy policy developments that best expand the benefits of local ownership and dispersed generation of renewable energy. More

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Pinocchio_Lying
Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Apr 16, 2013

Proposed Solar Standard is Cheap Compared to Minnesota Utilities’ Rate Increases

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/solar-debate-minnesota-shows-context-matters/

If you’re a state legislator in Minnesota, here’s a few grains of salt to season the message you’ve been getting from electric utilities about the proposed solar energy standard.  The bill (HF956/SF901) requires most utilities to get 4% of their energy from solar by 2025 and offers a standard, fixed-price contract to distributed solar energy producers… Continue reading

midwestenergynews
ILSR Press Room filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Apr 5, 2013

Are Feed-in Tariffs a ‘Subsidy’ for a Small Group of Utility Customers?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/feed-in-tariffs-subsidy-small-group-utility-customers/

Midwest Energy News, April 5, 2013 When a business or homeowner lowers their electricity bill by installing solar panels or wind turbines, do they drive up other customers’ utility bills? That’s the perennial claim made by utilities that oppose policies that would require them to compensate customers for electricity they generate. Most recently in Iowa,… Continue reading

Paul Spencer, Clean Energy Collective
Article, Resource filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Apr 5, 2013

Paul Spencer and the Community Solar ‘Holy Grail’: Episode 6 of Local Energy Rules Podcast

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/paul-spencer-community-solar-holy-grail-episode-6-local-energy-rules-podcast/

This week John Farrell and Wade Underwood talk with Paul Spencer, President and founder of the Clean Energy Collective (CEC) in Carbondale, CO. The CEC is pioneering the process of delivering clean power-generation through medium-scale (mostly solar) facilities that are collectively owned by participating utility customers. In many ways, their community energy model is the… Continue reading

Los Angeles FIT Program capacity and price
Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Apr 3, 2013

Los Angeles Utility Goes for Local Solar with 100 MW Feed-In Tariff

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/los-angeles-utility-local-solar-feed-in-tariff/

Officially launched in January after years of development, a new CLEAN (feed-in tariff) program from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (the city’s municipal electric utility) promises 100 MW of new local renewable energy by 2016.  In absolute size, the program will be among the largest CLEAN programs in the U.S., but compared to… Continue reading

financeandcommerce
ILSR Press Room filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Apr 1, 2013

Sustainable: Minnesota’s First Community Solar Project Powers Up

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/sustainable-minnesotas-community-solar-project-powers/

Finance & Commerce, April 1, 2013 Bloomington-based TenKSolar is supplying the solar panels for the community solar project run by the Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association. So far, more than 170 panels have been sold in four months. Steve Schmidt teaches a college class on renewable energy and always wanted to install solar panels on his… Continue reading

grist
ILSR Press Room filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Mar 29, 2013

Country’s Biggest Utility Power Provider Gets Into the Distributed-energy Game

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/countrys-biggest-utility-power-provider-distributed-energy-game/

Grist, March 29, 2013 I (David Roberts at Grist) wrote a (rather heady) post this morning about the move from centralized to distributed energy systems. Thanks to John Farrell — who, by the way, is the guru of distributed energy — I just came across a great example of how it’s beginning to happen. NRG… Continue reading

ieeespectrum
ILSR Press Room filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Mar 28, 2013

Residential Solar Power Heads Toward Grid Parity

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/residential-solar-power-heads-grid-parity/

IEEE Spectrum, March 28, 2013 Bright sun and high utility rates help rooftop solar energy compete with grid power. The map shows how much residential demand could be fulfilled by solar more cheaply than by the grid in 2018.  Source: Institute for Local Self-Reliance Photovoltaics are still, on average, a pricey, subsidy-dependent source of electricity…. Continue reading

WNHN logo
Article, Resource filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Mar 25, 2013

John Farrell Talks Local Energy Ownership with Arnie Arnesen on WNHN

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/john-farrell-talks-local-energy-ownership-arnie-arnesen-wnhn/

Can energy decisions be made locally, energy generated locally, and energy owned locally?  John answers those questions and talks about Solar 1.0 through 4.0 in this 20-minute discussion on Attitude with Arnie Arnesen on New Hampshire’s WNHN on March 20, 2013. Continue reading

Boulder Vote Yes 2B 2C banner
Article, Resource filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Mar 22, 2013

Susan Osborne and Boulder’s Clean Energy Takeover: Episode 5 of Local Energy Rules Podcast

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/susan-osborne-boulders-clean-energy-takeover-episode-5-local-energy-rules-podcast/

In this episode of Local Energy Rules, John Farrell and Wade Underwood talk with Susan Osborne, the former Mayor of Boulder, CO, about that city’s effort to take control of its energy future. Thanks to Susan’s leadership and the vision of Boulder’s citizens, the city adopted a ballot measure in the fall of 2011 to… Continue reading

freepressmainelogo
ILSR Press Room filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Mar 21, 2013

Solar Power Turns Mainstream

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/solar-power-turns-mainstream/

Free Press, March 21, 2013 “Solar was like a dream,” said Appleton resident Kal Winer as he recalled the first few years homesteading with his wife Linda Tatelbaum in the late 1970s. “Back in the ’70s when we had the first oil shock, I could see what I thought was a very real crisis for… Continue reading