Did you know the enormous potential of clean, local energy to meet U.S. electricity needs and juice local economies? But what happens if incumbent utilities successfully quash democratic energy? See 8 proposed rules that can open the doors to more local renewable energy generation and ownership, and fend off the corporate utility monopolies.

1. T H E P O W E R O F L O C A L
H O W T O A D VA N C E D I S T R I B U T E D R E N E WA B L E E N E R G Y
John Farrell
Director of Democratic Energy
August 24, 2014

2. H U G E
P O T E N T I A L

3. I L L I N O I S
143 billion kW-hr

4. ???
I L L I N O I S R O O F T O P S O L A R P O T E N T I A L ?
143 billion kW-hr

5. 17%
I L L I N O I S R O O F T O P S O L A R P O T E N T I A L ?
143 billion kW-hr

6. ???
I L L I N O I S W I N D P O T E N T I A L ?
143 billion kW-hr

7. 517%
143 billion kW-hr
I L L I N O I S W I N D P O T E N T I A L ?

8. POTENTIAL PERCENT OF
POWER FROM LOCAL
RENEWABLES
100% or more
50 to 100%
25 to 50%
10 to 25%
10% or less
M A S S I V E L O C A L P O T E N T I A L
Source: Energy Self-Reliant States
32 states - 100%+

9. 0¢
10¢
20¢
30¢
40¢
50¢
0 MW
3,000 MW
6,000 MW
9,000 MW
12,000 MW
15,000 MW
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Installed MW
Levelized cost
I N S TA L L E D S O L A R C A PA C I T Y
& L E V E L I Z E D C O S T ( U . S . )

10. W E ’ R E G E T T I N G T H E R E ,
B U T C A N I T G O F U R T H E R ?

11. 0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013
I N S TA L L E D W I N D A N D S O L A R , G E R M A N Y
( M E G A WAT T S )
G E R M A N Y: C L E A N P O W E R
25% Renewable
Y E S

12. Other
53%
Individuals & Farmers
47%
G E R M A N Y: P E O P L E P O W E R E D
O W N E R S H I P O F G E R M A N W I N D A N D S O L A R
3 4 , 0 0 0 M W

13. # 1 S O L A R U T I L I T Y, I N I O WA ?
79%
Solar
21%

14. A 4 2 % R E N E WA B L E C O O P E R AT I V E
Biomass
12%
Non-renewable
58%
Customer
6%
Utility solar
14%
Hydro
9%

15. A D VA N TA G E
L O C A L

16. $??? billion
in IL energy imports
For 143 billion kWh of electricity

17. $12 billion
in IL energy imports

18. $12 billion
in potential
By turning energy imports into local energy production

19. Total Economic Impact
Locally Owned Renewable Energy

20. Not local
0 25 50 75 100
very negative negative neutral positive very positive
L O C A L P O W E R VA L U E
(political)

21. Attitude towards increased use of local wind energy
Not local
0 25 50 75 100
very negative negative neutral positive very positive
-44%
+33%
+77% net approval
Local
Ownership
L O C A L P O W E R VA L U E
(political)

22. “ G R E E N T E A C O A L I T I O N ”
L O C A L P O W E R VA L U E

23. A D VA N TA G E
I N C U M B E N T ?

25. 1 0 - 1 1 % R O I
F O R I N F R A S T R U C T U R E

26. 2 0 T H C E N T U RY U T I L I T Y

27. Utility Electricity Sales Going Flat

28. Utility Power Generation Must Shift

29. 2 1 S T C E N T U RY U T I L I T Y ?

30. U T I L I T I E S P R O F I T F R O M
O W N I N G R E N E WA B L E S

31. F R E E D O M T O G E N E R AT E U N D E R F I R E
States facing challenges to distributed generation
Sources: Renewable Energy World, Greentech Media, IREC, Vote Solar and many more
5/21/14
U T I L I T I E S P R O F I T F R O M
F I G H T I N G C U S T O M E R -
O W N E D R E N E WA B L E S

32. U T I L I T I E S P R O F I T F R O M
O W N I N G C U S T O M E R -
S I T E D R E N E WA B L E S

33. P R O D U C I N G E L E C T R I C I T Y T O M E E T D E M A N D
ElectricityDeamnd
Time of day
1 AM 3 AM 5 AM 7 AM 9 AM 11 AM 1 PM 3 PM 5 PM 7 PM 9 PM 11 PM
Adapted from David Mills: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/12/02/3081889.htm
W I T H B A S E L O A D
Baseload (coal or nuclear)
Intermediate peaking (e.g. natural gas combined cycle)
Fast peaking (e.g. gas combustion turbine)

34. P R O D U C I N G E L E C T R I C I T Y T O M E E T D E M A N D
ElectricityDeamnd
Time of day
1 AM 3 AM 5 AM 7 AM 9 AM 11 AM 1 PM 3 PM 5 PM 7 PM 9 PM 11 PM
Adapted from David Mills: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/12/02/3081889.htm
W I T H B A S E L O A D
Baseload (coal or nuclear)
Intermediate peaking (e.g. natural gas combined cycle)
Fast peaking (e.g. gas combustion turbine)
U T I L I T I E S L O S E M O N E Y I F
S O L A R C O M P E T E S W I T H
T H E I R P O W E R P L A N T S

35. T E C H N I C A L LY
FA L S E
H O W U T I L I T I E S F I G H T D E M O C R A T I C E N E R G Y

36. I N T E R M I T T E N C Y

37. A T I N Y P R O B L E M
99%
Solar
1%

38. S P R E A D O U T T O S O LV E
Geographic Dispersion Lowers Solar Backup Costs
$0.00
$0.01
$0.02
$0.03
$0.04
1 location 5 locations 25 locations
$0.001
$0.010
$0.040
$ per kWh
Implications of Wide-Area Geographic Diversity for Short- Term Variability of Solar Power
(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

39. S U N I S P R E D I C TA B L E

40. W E AT H E R I S T O O

41. W E AT H E R I S T O O
Nov. 10, 2011
BOULDER, Colo.
Advanced Wind Forecasts Save
Millions of Dollars for Xcel Energy

42. S U M M A RY: I N T E G R AT I O N O F
R E N E WA B L E E N E R G Y I S M A N A G E A B L E

43. C H A N G I N G T H E
R U L E S ( 8 O F ‘ E M )

44. Average'(me'in'one'residence:'
'
'
Finance'terms:'
10515'years'
556'years' 556'years'
556'years'
L O C A L E N E R G Y F I N A N C I N G
1

45. 10#15%years%
5#6%years% 5#6%years%
L O C A L E N E R G Y F I N A N C I N G
1
T I E T O T H E P R O P E R T Y

46. L O C A L E N E R G Y F I N A N C I N G
http://pacenow.org/
1

47. L O C A L E N E R G Y F I N A N C I N G
http://pacenow.org/
1

48. 2
CCA
CCA Current utility
C O M M U N I T Y C H O I C E A G G R E G AT I O N

49. C O M M U N I T Y C H O I C E
2
S TA T E S W I T H C O M M U N I T Y C H O I C E A U T H O R I T Y

50. G R E E N C O M M U N I T Y C H O I C E
67%
Renewable
33%
AT A L O W E R C O S T
2

51. L O C A L P O W E R P U R C H A S I N G
3

52. State sets min and max
State sets min, certain cities can
exceed
No state standard (local authority)
voluntary
min.
B U I L D I N G C O D E A U T H O R I T Y
4

53. State VNM Eligibility
California Multi-tenant properties, local governments
Colorado IOU customers; solar gardens
Connecticut Municipal customers only
Dist. of Columbia All customers
Illinois Utility choice to offer
Maine All customers
Maryland
Allowed for agricultural customers,non-profit organizations,and
municipal governments or their affiliates
Massachusetts All customers
Minnesota Xcel Energy customers only,awaiting rulemaking,10/16/13
Rhode Island Local and state governments
Vermont All customers
5
V I R T U A L N E T M E T E R I N G

54. C O L L E C T I V E O W N E R S H I P
6

55. C O L L E C T I V E O W N E R S H I P
6
Source: SharedRenewables.org

56. C O L L E C T I V E O W N E R S H I P
6
J O B S A C T

57. F R A N C H I S E
LEVERAGE
UtilitiesCities
7

58. F R A N C H I S E
MONEY
UtilitiesCities
7

59. L O C A L P O W E R
S A N TA F EB O U L D E R
2x
Coal
8
P R O P O S E D C I T Y- O W N E D U T I L I T I E S

60. .org
ilsr.org
L I S T E N I N
K E E P U P - T O - D AT E
L E A R N M O R E

61. If God had wanted us to
live sustainably, she’d
have given us brains