Last year we noted that a bill to expand local authority to invest in publicly owned broadband networks would return in 2012. HB 1711 is in Committee and causing a bit of a stir. “A bit of a … Continue reading
Note: This is a revision of the same post from last week, with an updated time-of-use pricing plan from Los Angeles. What if electricity cost more when the sun was shining? Many utilities are using new electronic “smart meters” to adjust the price of electricity as often as every 15 minutes, to reflect supply and… Continue reading
Solar grid parity is considered the tipping point for solar power, when installing solar power will cost less than buying electricity from the grid. It’s also a tipping point in the electricity system, when millions of Americans can choose energy production and self-reliance over dependence on their electric utility. But this simple concept conceals a… Continue reading
Conducted by market research institute Forsa on behalf of municipal utilities in Germany, the survey found that 61 percent of Germans are willing to pay more for their power if the extra cost helps ramp up the share of renewables. Public acceptance even extends to acceptance of wind turbines “in my backyard”; 54 percent of those surveyed said they would find it “good” or “very good” if a wind turbine were set up nearby.
That’s the German feed-in tariff at work…
These links are useful to anyone interested in advancing composting, recycling or deconstruction. Continue reading
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is hosting an informational meeting on Thursday, January 12, at 1:00. For those who cannot make it in person, it will be webcast here.
The PDF announc… Continue reading
One of the reasons community broadband networks face so many unique hurdles (often created deliberately by states in response to cable/dsl lobbying) is because of the many ways in which campaign finance corrupts our national and state governments.
Com… Continue reading
Is the Super Bowl a socialist enterprise? Yes the language is provocative but not, I believe, inappropriate. After all Indiana, the site of the next Super Bowl, is currently governed by those who insist government should play a minimal role and the word they, and their Republican counterparts around the country use to describe those… Continue reading
Phillip Dampier at Stop the Cap! has once again followed the money trail to reveal AT&T pulling puppet strings to attack broadband stimulus funds. More significantly, AT&T is trying to… Continue reading
Update 1/12/12: I created a new post to reflect the current time-of-use pricing plan for Los Angeles Update 1/10/12: Fixed a missing pie chart and corrected a miscalculation caught by a reader What if electricity cost more when the sun was shining? Many utilities are using new electronic “smart meters” to adjust the price of… Continue reading