ILSR tracks community solar capacity in states with formal programs that allow non-utility ownership. This quarterly update (2023 Q4) shows the capacity built in nine states, with a focus on projects in investor-owned utility service territory.… Read More
The decisions of state legislatures have big consequences for how communities drive clean energy access and hold utilities accountable. This post breaks down how the policies that states passed last year impacted ILSR’s 2024 Community Power Scorecard.… Read More
Communities can do a lot to advance energy democracy, but some tools must be granted by state policy. This annual scorecard from ILSR’s Energy Democracy Initiative surveys a suite of 18 policies that help or hinder local clean energy action.… Read More
Pouya Najmaie discusses the strengths and weaknesses of Minnesota’s community solar program, its many regulatory and legislative changes over the years, and how utility Xcel Energy has found a new way to try to suppress distributed generation.… Read More
Steve Fenberg discusses Colorado’s Senate Bill 291, which changed incentives in the investor-owned utility business model to protect Colorado consumers from high fossil fuel costs and protects captive customers from paying for the utility to lobby against their own interests.… Read More
Mari Hernandez explains why we need transparent and efficient interconnection standards, how the regulatory landscape can adapt to new technologies, and where IREC’s Freeing the Grid initiative can help.… Read More
20 states have policies allowing some form of community renewable energy. This quarterly update (2023 Q1) shows the capacity built in seven states: Colo., Ill., Mass., Md., Minn., N.J., and N.Y. It focuses on programs in investor-owned utility service territory.… Read More
Haley Havens explains the ways that states can advance equity through their clean energy standards and how Minnesota’s 2023 standard performs on the Initiative for Energy Justice’s scorecard. … Read More
How much of the U.S. solar fleet is made up of smaller, distributed sources that help communities build local wealth? This 2022 update examines the size of state solar markets and the saturation of distributed and community solar systems.… Read More
