By Johanna Bozuwa, The Next System Project
It has been almost a month since Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Since then, most of the island’s 3.4 million residents have been without electricity or running water. The power grid was effectively destroyed, with only 7 percent back online to date. This means that the entire system, from generation to distribution, will need to be rebuilt. The question now is: how?
By Nithin Coca, Shareable
At a recent forum at Oakland City Hall, experts from the public banking and community energy sectors explored how the creation of a public bank could help communities transition to clean energy while creating economic opportunities.
By Anna Carlson, Clean Energy Resource Teams
At a ceremony, fittingly under sunny skies, Leech Lake officials and representatives from the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance unveiled a new solar array at the Prescott Community Center. The walls of solar panels at the community center are one of five spread throughout the reservation, with others at the Palace Casino, Leech Lake Tribal College, the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance office in Pine River and a fifth in Jackson Village.
By Nithin Coca, Shareable
Shared renewables is a democratic system, in which a community or neighborhood collectively owns or operates small-scale energy systems. The co-owners do not necessarily have to be neighbors — or even live near each other — depending on the type of system.
By John Farrell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Join Anya Schoolman of the Community Power Network and John Farrell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance who will lead a discussion on how states and communities can push past Trump’s dirty energy agenda, drive down energy cost and boost renewable energy growth.
By Wolfgang Hoeschele, Shareable
In a sharing vision of a local renewable energy system, many households will generate their own renewable energy (as in solar photovoltaic or solar thermal systems on their rooftops), but many more, for whom this is not an option, will share in the ownership and operation of off-site renewable energy generation infrastructure such as wind turbines.
By Arne Jungiohann, Craig Morris, Resilience.org
People soon realized it was not enough to just say no. They needed to offer a better alternative and say yes to something. So the Germans demanded what has since become known as energy democracy: the right to make your own energy.
By Cecile Blanchet, P2P Foundation
Is energy a mere commodity, or is it a common good? Why is this relevant in the first place? Here we look at why energy is part of our commons, from the sources to the product itself.
By Subin Varghese, P2P Foundation
Permanent Community Energy Cooperatives are an opportunity to start healing the planet and communities today through equitable energy development. They’re also “fun-work” that can bring people together, create results to celebrate, and build stronger bonds for more resilient, thriving communities.
By Cecile Blanchet, P2P Foundation
Community energy refers to any kind of power plant using a renewable source of energy, that has been planned, financed and which is owned by a community of people (from the village to the house). And why would these energy communities matter?
By Rob Hopkins, Transition Culture
Around the world, the idea that communities install, own, and enjoy some of the benefits of renewable energy is growing fast.
By Rob Hopkins, Transition Culture
When we fit solar on community buildings, the buildings get cheaper and greener electricity, local people can obviously invest in what we’re doing, and we’ve set up a community fund that will cross-subsidise other energy projects, and indeed, community projects more generally.