Public Private Partnerships: A Reality Check

Date: 26 May 2015 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

When Westminster, a community of 18,000 in rural Maryland, found itself with poor Internet access that incumbents refused to improve, it decided to join the ranks of a growing trend: public-private-partnerships between local governments and private companies to invest in next-generation Internet access. They are now working with Ting – one of a growing number of private sector … Read More

Beyond Utility 2.0: Part 3 “The Future”

Date: 7 May 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Unfortunately for utilities, new technology and commercial opportunities in the coming years will only increase the threat to the 1.0 business model. Solar energy is growing exponentially as costs have fallen 28% per year from 2009-2013, and electricity from rooftops is approaching or passing parity with utility prices.63 This is the third of four parts of ILSR’s … Read More

The High Cost of the Solar Middleman

Date: 9 Jan 2014 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 3 Facebooktwitterredditmail

If there’s no such thing as a free lunch, then how can Americans get solar on their roof with “zero money down” and lower their electric bill?  Solar leasing, as it’s often called, is a clever market solution to poor federal and state policy design that otherwise requires Americans to do financial acrobatics to power their … Read More

600 Investors in South Dakota’s Premier Community Wind Project – Episode 7 of Local Energy Rules Podcast

Date: 18 Apr 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In April 2013, John Farrell spoke to Brian Minish, CEO of South Dakota Wind Partners about a community wind project that attracted over 600 local investors.  The project was the brainchild of four state organizations rooted in rural South Dakota–the East River Electric Cooperative, South Dakota Farm Bureau, South Dakota Farmers Union and South Dakota Corn Growers. Hoping to broaden ownership in a wind farm project proposed by Basin Electric in Crow Lake, these groups worked with Brian to figure out how to add local investors to the mix.… Read More

The Coming Solar Electricity Transformation

Date: 27 Mar 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 1 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Solar cells are unusual in that they were cost-competitive from the get-go. From the Apollo space program to highway signs to lighting for buoys, solar could replace highly expensive power from batteries or other sources and eliminate the need for the construction of electric distribution lines.1 When the Institute for Local Self-Reliance was founded in 1974, … Read More

Randy Caviness and Community Wind in Iowa – Episode 4 of Local Energy Rules Podcast

Date: 7 Mar 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Community wind projects are relatively rare, but allow numerous investors to share in the financial benefits of owning wind power. After the 2008 financial crisis, several projects were successful, tapping limited-time-only federal tax incentives. In March 2013, John Farrell and Wade Underwood spoke with community wind power developer and farmer Randy Caviness about his Green Energy … Read More