Distributed Energy First, Wait On New Transmission Lines
A debate between advocates of distributed and centralized renewable energy systems is just beginning. It is overdue. Consideration of scale in renewable energy systems has been delayed in part because we first had to bring solar energy in all its forms to market, and in part because the distributed nature of renewable energy resources seemed inexorably to lead to their being harnessed in distributed fashion. Only recently have we begun to realize that a renewable energy future does not inevitably mean a decentralized energy future.
A new policy brief from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance concludes that universal dividends are a critically important tool to create the political will and public acceptance for a carbon cap. Universal dividends have the potential to hold harmless a large segment of consumers while we move to a low-carbon economy. Moreover, the universal dividend honors the principle that the sky belongs to all of us equally. Private investment in clean and efficient technologies will be driven by a carbon cap that leads to steady reductions over time of GHG emissions and carbon-based fuels.
In mid-May, Los Angeles' Mayor announced a new climate change action plan that calls for the LA municipal utility to increase its renewable energy portfolio to reach 35 percent by 2020. This in combination with about 50 other proposed actions will work to reduce GHG emissions in the city of angels to 35 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. 
This March 2007 report from the California Energy Commission provides a nice state-based, how-to perspective on policy options to increase the use of small scale DG along with larger combined heat and power projects. California's roadmap is designed to increase the penetration rate of CHP and DG from 17 percent of 2004 peak capacity (56,435 MW) to over 25 percent by 2020 (expected peak demand of 70,776 MW). 
As of today, 111 college Presidents have signed on to an initiative, The American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, that commits their campuses to become carbon neutral. Second Nature, ecoAmerica and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) initiated the campaign to leverage the unique responsibility and leadership that institutions of higher education can have in addressing global warming at the local level.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required that DOE, in consultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), conduct a study of the potential benefits of cogeneration and small power production. The final report, The Potential Benefits of Distributed Generation and Rate Related Issues that May Impede Their Expansion, is now open for public comment until April 2, 2007.
A recent column by David Morris published on Alternet provides a review of George Monbiot's new book Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning. The book picks up where Al Gore left off on global warming, offering real solutions without sugar-coating the large personal sacrifices they will require.
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), a group that has long been been tracking state-level developments related to net metering and distributed generation interconnection activities, has released its first monthly summary of state-level activities required under the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005).
London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, wants there to be at least one carbon neutral development project in each of the city's 32 boroughs by 2010. To that end, the London Energy Partnership has released an instructive paper titled, Toward Zero Carbon Developments - Supportive Information for Boroughs, that will provide the advice necessary to make it easier for the goal to be met and exceeded.
Taking an important step towards making ethanol production more reliant on renewable energy, the Central Minnesota Ethanol Cooperative is nearing completion of a biomass-fueled energy system at its ethanol plant near Little Falls, MN.
A December 2005 Energy Saving Trust report concludes that small wind and solar along with residential cogeneration technologies could provide a substantial portion of the UK's domestic energy needs by 2050.
Over three years, Klickitat County in southern Washington, studied the potential impacts of future energy projects within its borders and came up with a plan to direct those projects to the most appropriate areas.