Category: Local Energy
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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That outdated business models, conflicting interests, and aging technologies hogtie today’s behemoth electric utilities is no more evident…
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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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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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California just required solar on all new houses – will the world follow?
California just made a huge commitment to Local Energy. On May 9, California’s Energy Commission (CEC) unanimously passed…
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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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The most important question each of us needs to ask about energy
The dirty secret of power plants Every time we turn on a light, crank up the air conditioning…
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Africa is democratizing energy – a TED talk by Amar Inamdar shares lessons that can impact energy everywhere
Local energy is the fastest path to cleaner, cheaper, more reliable power. Nowhere is this truer than Africa.…
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Local Energy can be expensive and hard today but so were websites in 1998
(Reading time: 4 minutes) Ask most experts and they’ll tell you that local energy systems like microgrids and community…
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Three steps that will help Puerto Rico’s grid survive the next hurricane
On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma hit Puerto Rico and left a million people without power. Two weeks…
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A TED talk on accelerating the shift to clean energy
Electricity powers nearly every aspect of our modern, convenient lives. It’s so pervasive and easy that most of…
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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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Solar Home Systems in Africa Power Lights, Radios, Phones and Dignity
On my recent trip to Africa, Jacqueline Novogratz, the CEO of the anti-poverty organization, Acumen, shared something she’d…