Local Energy Rules

Consumers pay for a lot of things on their utility bills. In Colorado, legislators took political lobbying out of the equation.

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Steve Fenberg, the Colorado Senate President representing Boulder County. They discuss 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.

Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation.

https://ilsr.org/colorado-bill-utility-accountability-ler194/

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. |

Show page available: https://ilsr.org/colorado-bill-utility-accountability-ler194/ |

Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage |

Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

When it comes to distributed solar policy, Indiana took one step back before ever taking two steps forward.

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Ben Inskeep, Program Director at Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana. The Citizens Action Coalition is a non-profit consumer advocacy organization working broadly across energy and environmental issues. Farrell and Inskeep discuss Indiana’s backward solar policy, why local solar is a threat to utilities, and how to go up against the powerful entrenched interests of monopolies.

Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation.

https://ilsr.org/articles/indiana-dismantles-rooftop-solar/

Ben Inskeep discusses Indiana’s backward solar policy, why local solar is a threat to utilities, and how to go up against the powerful entrenched interests of monopolies. |

Show page available: https://ilsr.org/indiana-dismantles-rooftop-solar/ |

Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage |

Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Sachu Constantine, Executive Director of Vote Solar. They discuss the obstacles and opportunities arising for the electric grid as customers become generators and what California got wrong in its 2022 net metering decision.

Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation.

https://ilsr.org/articles/california-rooftop-solar-nem-ler192/

Sachu Constantine explains the obstacles and opportunities arising for the electric grid as customers become generators and what California got wrong in its 2022 net metering decision. |

Show page available: https://ilsr.org/california-rooftop-solar-nem-ler192/ |

Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage |

Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

If utility regulators are not defending competition, they are not defending consumers.

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Seth Handy, a clean energy attorney in Rhode Island. Handy and his law firm have come up against electric utilities in many different cases, often around their suppression of distributed solar projects and competition. Handy explains how utilities have, through loopholes in federal guidance and friends on public regulatory bodies, protected their own interests at the expense of clean energy projects.

Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation.

https://ilsr.org/articles/anti-competitive-tricks-utility-sleeves-ler191/

Seth Handy explains how utilities have, through loopholes in federal guidance and friends on public regulatory bodies, protected their own interests at the expense of clean energy projects. |

Show page available: https://ilsr.org/anti-competitive-tricks-utility-sleeves-ler191/ |

Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage |

Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!

Creating a program that is justice driven, accountable, community powered, and has multiple benefits is a tall order.

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Maria Sipin, volunteer committee member for the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund. They discuss what the fund has accomplished, how volunteers from the community have shaped the fund’s priorities, and how to evaluate project success.

Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation.

https://ilsr.org/articles/portland-funds-community-clean-energy-ler190/

Maria Sipin discusses what the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund has accomplished, how volunteers from the community have shaped the fund’s priorities, and how to evaluate project success. |

Show page available: https://ilsr.org/portland-funds-community-clean-energy-ler190/ |

Listen to all of our Local Energy Rules podcast episodes at our site: https://ilsr.org/local-energy-rules-podcast-homepage |

Don't forget to subscribe, share with your friends, leave a recommendation on our podcast feeds, and join the conversation online using the #LocalEnergyRules hashtag!