Energy Publications

Community Choice Aggregation lets cities and counties select their own electricity provider, prioritize renewable energy and encourage conservation, without having to own the utility or the power lines. It has expanded in California, and this paper provides an update on this innovative policy. For years, the U.S. has been served by four forms of electric utility: investor-owned, cooperative, municipal, and federal (e.g. Tennessee Valley Authority).  This list is changing. More

There's a renewable energy policy with a record of incredible success, so why aren't we using it in America?  This paper briefly explores the history of feed-in tariffs (FITs) in Europe - the rise and fall of this policy in Denmark and the rise and rise of FITs in Germany - and then outlines why it would be a much simpler, more cost-effective, and better economic driver for reaching America's renewable energy goals.  More

This report, jointly authored with George Crocker of the North American Water Office and Michael Michaud of Matrix Energy Solutions, examines the implications that two recent distributed generation studies in Minnesota may have on the need for building new high-voltage transmission lines in the state. The authors conclude that project over a certain size be compared to alternative ways sufficient power transfer capability for dispersed renewable electricity generation may be available on the existing grid or with relatively modest, strategic enhancements to the existing grid system to meet the Minnesota's 2025 renewable energy goal without building major new 345 kV transmission facilities. More

How much energy could be generated by states tapping into internal renewable resources? This November 2008 report by David Morris and John Farrell presents preliminary data that suggests that at least half of the fifty states could meet all their internal energy needs from renewable energy generated inside their borders, and the vast majority could meet a significant percentage. More

This August 2008 report by David Morris and John Farrell was sponsored by the Ford Foundation. The next 20 years could generate as much as $1 trillion in new renewable energy investment in rural America. The report is a policy roadmap for states and the federal government that would redesign policies to encourage a highly decentralized and dispersed renewable energy industry that is significantly locally owned. Doing so would multiply the number of rural areas that benefit from burgeoning renewable energy industries, and would create a sustainable asset whose wealth and revenue will largely remain in revived local communities and regions. More

Updating our pathbreaking 2003 report, this June 2008 report by David Morris describes how commercially available technologies today could transform our petroleum powered transportation system into one powered by electricity and biofuels. Provisions in the recently passed Energy Act could accelerate that transformation. With the adoption of complementary policies, the revolution in our transportation sector can generate an equally profound revolution in our electricity sector. Hundreds of thousands of locally owned wind turbines and solar electric arrays supplying flexible fueled, plug-in hybrid vehicles can allow tens of millions of Americans to become energy producers not just energy consumers. More

Large, remote concentrating solar power systems are the new darlings of the solar industry.  Some observers now see centralized, not decentralized solar as the future.  But a new report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance reveals that the economic advantage of centralized solar and absentee owned solar arrays rests on federal tax incentives that discriminate against locally owned, decentralized solar arrays.

John Farrell, the report’s author and a strong voice in the energy community, calls for Congress to change federal tax incentives to give equal benefits to residential solar arrays, instead of favoring commercial and centralized projects. More

This April 2008 policy brief by John Farrell shows how current federal law discriminates against people owning their own power plants and highlights how the removal of two barriers at the federal level could dramatically enhance local ownership and investment in renewable energy projects. More

This February 2008 report by David Morris criticizes the authors of two recent studies published in Science for advancing a conclusion not supported by their own studies. The paper notes that the vast majority of today's ethanol production comes from corn cultivated on land that has been in corn production for generations. Since little new land has come into production, either directly or indirectly, the current use of ethanol clearly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

On February 7, 2008, Science published two studies that examined the greenhouse gas impact of land use changes caused by the growing demand for biofuels. Within hours, news of the studies was carried by a remarkable number of media outlets. Reporters summed up the findings in dire terms. National Public Radio declared, "Study: Ethanol Worse for Climate Than Gasoline." The New York Times headline read, "Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat."  More

This January 2008 policy brief by John Farrell highlights how several European countries, and more recently the Canadian province of Ontario, have adopted a simple yet powerful strategy to expand renewable energy and benefit local economies. It is called a feed-in tariff: a mandated, long-term premium price for renewable energy paid by the local electric utility to energy producers. Evidence shows that a feed-in tariff achieves greater results at a lower cost than do other strategies like tax incentives or renewable electricity standards.

Several European countries, and more recently the Canadian province of Ontario, have adopted a simple yet powerful strategy to expand renewable energy and benefit local economies. It is called a feed-in tariff: a mandated, long-term premium price for renewable energy paid by the local electric utility to energy producers. Evidence shows that a feed-in tariff achieves greater results at a lower cost than do other strategies like tax incentives or renewable electricity standards.  More