Local Energy Rules

The largest energy decisions may be out of local hands, but cities can influence the outcomes. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Stacy Miller, Sustainability Program Coordinator for the City of Minneapolis. City officials created the position and hired Miller four years ago when they realized that state and utility decision-making could make or break their ambitious climate action goals. Miller explains how she represents the city of Minneapolis in state forums, including the Public Utilities Commission, and what’s at stake in decisions made by the state. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/cities-steer-state-action-ler186/

In 2023, Minnesota became the latest state to adopt a 100 percent clean energy standard — but does the standard do enough for energy justice? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Haley Havens, Senior Research and Operations Associate at the Initiative for Energy Justice (IEJ). IEJ has created a scorecard that evaluates equity in state renewable energy standards. Havens and Farrell discuss the ways that states can advance equity through their clean energy standards and how Minnesota’s 2023 standard stacks up. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/scoring-justice-clean-energy-standards-ler185/

Municipalization: many have tried, but few have succeeded. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Randy Knight, city manager of Winter Park, Florida. Having taken over its electric utility in 2005, Winter Park is the only sizable city to successfully municipalize in the last two decades. Knight explains how the city overcame utility opposition and shares his advice to other cities investigating public power. This is the full interview that was partially released in part two of The Promise and Peril of Publicly-Owned Power series. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/winter-park-public-power-takeover-ler184/

10 million customers depend on their essential public service, yet decisions are made behind closed doors. What has gone wrong with Tennessee Valley Authority? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Maggie Shober, Director of Utility Reform for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. They discuss how the Tennessee Valley Authority operates like a for-profit utility, despite its public ownership. This is the full interview that was partially released in part five of The Promise and Peril of Publicly-Owned Power series. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/tennessee-valley-unchecked-authority-ler183/

A member-owned electric cooperative in New Hampshire is one of the first utilities harnessing the power of ‘vehicle-to-grid.’ For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Brian Callnan, Vice President of Power Resources and Access for New Hampshire Electric Cooperative. They discuss the co-op’s Transactive Energy Rate pilot program and how the energy sitting in electric vehicle batteries can provide additional value to the owner and the grid. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/new-hampshire-coop-electric-vehicles-ler182/

Pacific Gas & Electric, even in bankruptcy, will not relinquish control over its poorly-maintained assets. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Peter Rietkerk, General Manager of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District. They discuss how a public agency could do a better job than Pacific Gas & Electric and the District’s 18 year endeavor to provide retail electric service in California’s Central Valley. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/central-california-public-power-ler181/

Did you know you can heat your home without burning gas in your basement? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Nate Adams, CEO of HVAC 2.0. Farrell and Adams discuss how to electrify homes in cold climates, which policies and incentives actually support home electrification, and the problems we must solve to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/comfort-home-makeovers-hvac-ler180/

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Sky Stanfield, a Partner at Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, LLP. Stanfield often represents the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) in grid modernization, interconnection, and energy storage proceedings across the United States. Farrell and Stanfield discuss how proactive grid planning and good interconnection policy can capitalize on existing distribution infrastructure for the most cost-effective clean energy transition. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/interconnection-grid-planning-ler179/

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Nate Adams,  CEO of HVAC 2.0, and Steve Pantano, Head of Research at Rewiring America. After Adams posted a heated Twitter thread involving some of Rewiring America’s research, the two came on the podcast to find common ground within the field of home electrification. They discuss how education is the foundation for informed decision making, what builds trust between contractors and homeowners, and the additional support needed to make home electrification mainstream. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/mainstreaming-electric-homes-ler178/

Deploying local solar is a crucial step toward achieving a low-cost clean electricity grid. Individuals and communities are willing to make the investment, but they lack the information to develop projects with urgency. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Justin Baca, Vice President of Markets and Research at the Solar Energy Industries Association, and David Gahl, Executive Director of the Solar and Storage Industries Institute. They discuss how an information gap trips up small solar developers. They also explain their letter to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which asks for more federal data collection from electric utilities and transmission operators. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/eia-survey-interconnection-data-ler177/

Somehow, Georgia public service commissioners found it “just and reasonable” to charge consumers for the most expensive power plant ever built. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Patty Durand, candidate for the Georgia Public Service Commission. They discuss how the Commission failed to protect consumers from the Vogtle nuclear power plant, what Durand will do differently if she is elected, and why her candidacy faced so many legal challenges. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/georgia-commisson-nuclear-fiasco-ler176/

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Dan Juhl, Partner at E2SG Partners. Juhl and his partners develop clean energy projects — in particular, integrated systems that combine solar, wind, and/or battery storage. He discusses how commercial-scale, hybrid solar and wind systems are a “real match” that can circumvent transmission system concerns. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/who-needs-transmission-wires-ler175/

Accountability might just crumble when a utility, accountable to its board, punishes dissenting board members. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Autumn Johnson, Founder and CEO of Tierra Strategy. They talk about Salt River Project: a publicly-owned Arizona utility engaged in some shady behavior. The public’s only accountability measure? Board members who are elected by land-owning customers and punished for their dissension. This is the full interview that was partially released in part five of The Promise and Peril of Publicly-Owned Power series. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/salt-river-project-public-utility-ler174/

With advanced technology, utility regulation has become a juggling act. How do you accurately weigh the risks of innovation? Can utilities be sincere advocates for their customers? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Ted Thomas of Energize Strategies and former chair of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. They discuss access, fairness, cost shifts, utility monopolies, and innovation in the electricity sector. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/regulators-referee-utility-customer-clash-ler173/

20 years ago, customers of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) were solar “PV Pioneers.” Now, the utility is stifling customer-owned solar, increasing fixed charges, and one third of SMUD customers can’t afford their monthly bill. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Derek Cressman and Fatima Malik, who have both run for seats on the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) board. They describe the evolution of SMUD, how the public utility is failing its customers, and share their proposed solutions. This is the full interview that was partially released in part five of The Promise and Peril of Publicly-Owned Power series. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/sacramento-municipal-utility-district-board-candidates-ler172/

While many cities profess an interest in advancing clean energy, states often hold the keys to the policy and regulatory opportunities. Activists from Brookline, Mass., the first cold-climate city to ban expansion of the methane gas network to new homes and businesses, aim to give cities the upper hand. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Jesse Gray and David Mendels, co-founders of Zero Carbon Massachusetts. They discuss the six provisions in the Municipal Climate Empowerment Plan, state legislation that would enable Massachusetts communities to tackle their clean energy challenges with local solutions and greater local funding. These policies could be a model for how states serious about clean energy could unlock more local action. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/zero-carbon-massachusetts-ler171/

Successful utility takeovers are few and far between. What other options do communities have to get what they want from their electricity provider? For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell explains five alternatives to a public power takeover that can still advance a community’s clean energy and environmental justice aims — with examples from the Local Energy Rules archive. This is part six of a special series: The Promise and Peril of Publicly-Owned Power. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/public-power-series-6-alternatives-ler170/

“Establishing public power is the beginning of a process, and not an end,” says SMUD Board Candidate Derek Cressman. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, customers of four publicly-owned utilities explain some limitations of the public power model and how they are organizing to increase accountability. The utilities included in their stories are Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Tennessee Valley Authority, Salt River Project, and Omaha Public Power District. This is part five of a special series: The Promise and Peril of Publicly-Owned Power. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/public-power-series-5-perils-ler169/

Federal lawmakers are getting all the credit, but the real work of the Inflation Reduction Act will be done by federal agencies, private entities, and state and local governments. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Amy Turner, Senior Fellow with the Cities Climate Law Initiative at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. They discuss how cities can use Inflation Reduction Act dollars to advance local goals — and should help their residents do the same. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/inflation-reduction-act-cities-ler168/

Cities can take over when their private utility’s service is poor, but municipalization isn’t all or nothing. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell describes three municipalization attempts: Boulder, Colo., Minneapolis, and Decorah, Iowa. Each city failed to form its own utility, but found silver linings in trying. This is part four of a special series: The Promise and Peril of Publicly-Owned Power. Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation. https://ilsr.org/articles/public-power-series-4-game-over-ler167/