Energy Self-Reliant States: Five Reasons Solar’s Win Over Gas in Minnesota is Just the Beginning

Last week, I summarized the impact of the judicial ruling requiring Xcel Energy to buy peaking power from solar instead of natural gas: Five Reasons Solar’s Win Over Gas in Minnesota is Just the Beginning.

Also, I was quoted by Minnesota Public Radio about the release of the Minneapolis Energy Pathways Study, outlining four possible paths for the city to reach its energy vision.

Sincerely,
John

Five Reasons Solar’s Win Over Gas in Minnesota is Just the BeginningCONTINUE READING ->

John Farrell Talks Energy Decentralization on Thom Hartmann’s Big Picture

What is big picture program on February 18, 2014. Skip to 30:06 to see John’s interview.

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Show Me Solar: Parity, Value, and Opportunity for Solar Power

What can solar power do for a single state? How about 21% of its energy, $14 billion in economic activity, and over 150,000 jobs. At a discount to existing electricity costs. Without subsidies. ILSR’s Director of Democratic Energy, John Farrell, shared this message with the Missouri CONTINUE READING ->

Millions of People Investing in Solar – Episode 16 of Local Energy Rules

For years, the only effective way to go solar was to have tens of thousands of dollars and a sunny roof. Investing in solar was nearly impossible. But a couple years ago, a new notion called crowdfunding got its start, and California-Based Mosaic was on the forefront. Its crowdfunding program allows people to pool their…

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Envisioning An Innovative Local Electric Utility – Episode 15 of Local Energy RulesLaboring to keep more of its energy dollars at home, community members in Boulder, CO, decided that they needed some numbers behind their vision of a cleaner energy utility. Listen in to the podcast to hear Ken Regelson describe how the remarkable results of Boulder’s citizen-driven energy model have given them power to stand up…

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Democratic Energy on Tour

Staff from the Democratic Energy initiative (me) speak at events around the country. Check out the upcoming and past events on ILSR’s speakers page, or see if you’re on the list below:

February 1, 2014 – Kansas City, MO
john farrell is a special guest speaker at theMissouri Solar Energy Industries Association annual conference.

January 18, 2014 – Northfield, MN
john farrell will participate in a city-wide Climate Summit.

November 8, 2013 – Decorah, IA
John Farrell presented to the opening plenary session the 5th Conference of the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability at Luther College, speaking about the intersection of campus sustainability and the shift toward communities taking control of their energy future. View the presentation and read the remarks.