Municipal Broadband Restrictions Interfere with State BEAD Plans

Date: 14 Sep 2023 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

One major barrier to providing universal access to fast, reliable and affordable Internet service–long recognized by ILSR, telecom experts, and a growing number of ordinary citizens–are the monopoly-friendly preemption laws that either outright ban or erect insurmountable barriers to municipal broadband.… Read More

The Movement to Take Back Control From Monopoly Electric Utilities — Episode 154 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 13 Apr 2022 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, a rebroadcast from the Building Local Power Podcast, we share a recording of ILSR’s Democratizing Power event: a conversation with advocates about how communities have challenged monopoly power.… Read More

Video: Watch ILSR’s Event on Democratizing Power

Date: 29 Jan 2022 | posted in: Energy, Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Watch video of this inspiring event showcasing grassroots initiatives that are taking on electric utility monopolies and winning the fight for democratic and community control. Features Our Power, a citizen-led ballot campaign in Maine that aims to convert the utility serving most of the state to a consumer-owned company.
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From the Archive: A David and Goliath Fight to Tap World Class Solar — Episode 75 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 25 Apr 2019 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In this episode of Local Energy Rules, we revisit an earlier episode from our archives in which ILSR’s Director of Energy Democracy, John Farrell speaks with Mariel Nanasi of New Mexico’s New Energy Economy about how the citizens of Santa Fe could benefit from the economic and environmental benefits of switching to a city-owned utility. … Read More

Beyond Utility 2.0: Part 1 “A Prelude to the Future”

Date: 22 Apr 2015 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The U.S. electricity system is undergoing the biggest change in its 130-­year history. The scale of electricity generation is rapidly shrinking, from coal and nuclear power plants that can power a million homes to solar and wind power plants that power a few to a few hundred nearby homes. Electricity demand has leveled off, so that … Read More

Dublin Municipal Network Serves Schools, Government, and Business in Ohio

Date: 9 Dec 2013 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In 1999, Laurens County Schools and Dublin City Schools needed to move past dial-up Internet access. The City of 16,000 built a fiber network to serve students in the community. It now also serves local government and businesses in the Dublin area. Once the network was in place, AT&T and Charter Communications began building in Dublin. … Read More

Defending the Public Good: FDR’s Portland Speech

Date: 11 Sep 2013 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A month before the 1932 election, Franklin Roosevelt traveled to Portland, Oregon to deliver a speech about government and governance. Some 80 years later, his talk, given in the depths of the Depression to a nation that had yet to accept that government should play an important role, remains one of the clearest and most accessible … Read More