John Farrell

Australia’s Rooftop Solar Revolution: A Postcard from the Future — Episode 238 of Local Energy Rules - ILSR Energy Democracy Initiative Australia leads the world in rooftop solar adoption, offering crucial lessons for regulators and grid operators in the United States.

@zaneselvans I have been banging on about all of these issues since I was in the solar business 20 years ago. Mentioned them a few times on @transitionshow.bsky.social but had a proper rant about them on @johnffarrell.bsky.social's podcast recently: ilsr.org/articles/aus...

Smart Homes, Stronger Grids, Thanks to Distributed Power Plants — Episode 241 of Local Energy Rules - ILSR Energy Democracy Initiative Learn about how distributed power plants lower electric bills and stabilize the grid.

I had a great time talking with energy expert @johnffarrell.bsky.social about distributed power plants. Give our conversation a listen 👂 🎧 and support a @solarunitedneighbors.org campaign near you! ilsr.org/articles/dis... #energysky #solarenergy #gridmodsquad

A Handbook For Public Power Campaigns - ILSR Energy Democracy Initiative A one-stop resource for public power advocates preparing campaigns to take over their electric utility.

Get help with everything from building a winning coalition, to countering utility pushback, to other models of public power that still ⬆️local energy control and utility accountability vist.ly/3zjf3

Wow. Xfinity?

Always call and say you want to cancel. You get a retention person whose job it is to give you discounts!

The End of Rule of Law in America The 47th president seems to wish he were king—and he is willing to destroy what is precious about this country to get what he wants.

OMG, there are just so many things this administration is doing that are illegal. So. Many. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

A Handbook For Public Power Campaigns - ILSR Energy Democracy Initiative A one-stop resource for public power advocates preparing campaigns to take over their electric utility.

Public power advocates! @ilsr.bsky.social just released our Public Power Handbook, with step-by-step guidance on how to municipalize (take over) a private electric utility: ilsr.org/articles/pub...

The Value of Proportionate Fines Why do most governments issue the same fines to both plutocrats and paupers?

More on this subject from the always-excellent @brianklaas.bsky.social www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-value-...

Absolutely we should index fines for income. If the notion is that the fine is meant to change behavior, flat fines smack poor people far harder than rich ones, implying that we care less about speeding and running red lights if you have money.

Or, if you can, take an extra day after you're home (and then secretly work through your email, scheduling all replies for the following day)

FTC drops case against Pepsi alleging price discrimination The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday dropped its case accusing PepsiCo of price discrimination that favored Walmart , and criticized former Chair Lina Khan for rushing the case out.

Naturally, today's GOP opposes enforcing those policies, worsening the situation for their rural constituents. www.reuters.com/world/us/ftc...

The Great Grocery Squeeze How a federal policy change in the 1980s created the modern food desert

I agree that there's very little parity in the rhetoric, but rural areas have been gutted by the lack of enforcement of New Deal era laws like Robinson-Patman or those preventing mergers, which allowed those chain stores to destroy local businesses. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

👀

Law judge calls for Minnesota PUC to reject $6.2B Allete private equity deal The proposed private equity model isn’t in the public interest, an administrative law judge said.

To understand how risky this deal is for consumers, check out CUB's Brian Edstrom giving the deets on the Local Energy Rules podcast: https://ilsr.org/articles/blackrock-utility-purchase-ler240/

Law judge calls for Minnesota PUC to reject $6.2B Allete private equity deal The proposed private equity model isn’t in the public interest, an administrative law judge said.

Judge says Minnesota's utility regulators should reject the buyout of one of the utility's by a foreign pension fund and a private equity firm. Will the regulators listen? vist.ly/3ym5v

I'm impressed by how well the Dept of Revenue remade the program after last year's daytime FCFS disaster. Income targeted and lottery-based makes it easier for people who can't get online at noon on a Tuesday to get in. Bravo!

Not just a climate leader, but a gifted zinger maker! @billmckibben.bsky.social

TL; DR

What the Monopoly Utility Model Really Costs Us - Institute for Local Self-Reliance Investor-owned electric utilities are an abusive platform monopoly harming our communities, climate, and democracy.

Sorry, second link was supposed to be to ILSR's deeper research on the upcharges from investor-owned utilities: ilsr.org/articles/rep...

Why BlackRock Wants to Buy Your Electric Utility — Episode 240 of Local Energy Rules - ILSR Energy Democracy Initiative Minnesota Power's sale would saddle captive utility customers with higher rates, but bring millions to shareholders.

Investor-owned utilities already make electricity more expensive than it ought to be. Why would private equity ownership make that any better for consumers? https://ilsr.org/articles/report-upcharge-electric-utility-monopoly/

Why BlackRock Wants to Buy Your Electric Utility — Episode 240 of Local Energy Rules - ILSR Energy Democracy Initiative Minnesota Power's sale would saddle captive utility customers with higher rates, but bring millions to shareholders.

"I don’t think [the] commitments they’ve made are significant enough to offset the risks." Brian Edstrom explains why CUB Minnesota gives a big 👎👎👎 to the proposed purchased by private equity firm BlackRock of one of the states investor-owned utilities. vist.ly/3ye9p

Who has the best laundry list of current natural gas power plant prices and forecasts? My understanding is gas plant prices have increased significantly over the past year. Case studies and models would be appreciated. CC's, CT's, etc.

Zing.

The Big Ugly Bill won't be able to stop Econ 101. People want affordable electricity, and solar+storage will deliver.

Sometimes I feel like the only response to some of these NYT stories is “ok, boomer”

Same for my brother-in-law. Controller in a "building," not a tower.

Imagine running a business and not being able to answer a question about how many of your employees have left since January.

WTF

Michigan utility aided sabotage of Covid lockdown policies, documents reveal DTE Energy had denied involvement in dark money non-profits, but court documents show a $100,000 donation

More under the table, dark money political machinations by a #monopoly utility company, Michigan edition: vist.ly/3xxvx h/t Tom Perkins @theguardian.com‬

The "good" news is that we may not notice food shortages from deporting farm workers when millions of Americans lose SNAP benefits and can't afford to buy food anyway.