Category: Case Studies
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Six months without electricity – stories from Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria (part 1)
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Sept 20, 2017 and resulted in the worst blackout in American History.…
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A battle for clean energy: the Kit Carson coop story
That outdated business models, conflicting interests, and aging technologies hogtie today’s behemoth electric utilities is no more evident…
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Puerto Rico shines a bright light on the shortcomings of the world’s electricity infrastructure
On August 7, 2018, an untrimmed tree fell on an electrical transmission line in Puerto Rico, leaving 130,000…
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Microgrid powered neighborhoods are a real thing – how can we get more of them?
Imagine a neighborhood powered entirely by local energy. Shared solar panels, energy efficient homes, and community batteries to…
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The military is pioneering Local Energy to save money and save lives
In the late morning of April 9, 2004, 17 tanker trucks, and 5 armored escort vehicles left a…
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Hawaii is a postcard from our electric future (Part 2)
Island power grids are a microcosm of the vastly larger grids that criss-cross the planet. In Part 1…
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Islands: fruity drinks, sandy beaches, and the future of the electric grid (Part 1)
The shift to clean, local energy is a real challenge for many utilities. Their traditional planning models choke on…
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Montgomery County Maryland didn’t have the budget for their microgrid so they invented a new business model
It was the summer of 2012 and the Mid-Atlantic was being pummeled by one of the worst storms…
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How did CEO Chandu Visweswariah take Utopus Insights from clean energy startup to $100M acquisition in 12 months?
On February 2, 2018, US$12 billion wind turbine giant, Vestas, acquired New York startup, Utopus Insights, for $100M…
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Why are the lights still out in Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico has become an island of generators. Almost 10 weeks after Hurricane Maria tore across the island,…
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How an Entire U.S. Town Became Battery-Operated
What if I told you the U.S. city blazing the local energy trail has a population of 2,800…
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Taking My House Off-Grid, Part 1
If you drive North up Highway 85, the last exit in Georgia will lead you to the town…