In October 2017, John Farrell gave a keynote address to the annual meeting and expo of AERO, a Montana organization with a similar mission of empowering communities to promote a sustainable economy. He addressed the widespread opportunity for clean energy in Montana, the shared desire of communities to capture that growing economic opportunity, and three ways communities can get started.

1. H O W C O M M U N I T I E S U S E C L E A N
E N E R G Y T O B U I L D L O C A L P O W E R
A D VA N C I N G E N E R G Y D E M O C R A C Y
John Farrell
Director of Energy DemocracyOctober 20, 2017
Presentation to the AERO Annual Meeting

2. L E T ’ S WA R M U P

3. W I N D P O W E R P O T E N T I A L ?
Percentage of state electricity sales

4. A. 25%
B. 75%
C. 154%
D. 12,000%
E. 27,000%
W I N D P O W E R P O T E N T I A L ?
Percentage of state electricity sales

5. E. 27,000%
W I N D P O W E R P O T E N T I A L
Percentage of state electricity sales

6. W I N D P O W E R P O T E N T I A L
30% c.f. or better
2 0 1 0 N R E L D ATA
100m
Potential Percent of
Electricity from
Onshore Wind Power
0 to 10%
10 to 25%
25 to 50%
50 to 100%
100% or moreSource: http://1.usa.gov/1LBmAIV
“You have a unique
opportunity to buy wind that
is cheaper than fossil fuel”
—Xcel CEO Ben Fowke

7. L E T ’ S WA R M U P ( # 2 )

8. R O O F T O P S O L A R P O T E N T I A L ?
A. 2%
B. 8%
C. 28%
D. 59%
E.112%
Percentage of state electricity sales

9. R O O F T O P S O L A R P O T E N T I A L
A. 2%
B. 8%
C. 28%
D. 59%
E. 112%
Percentage of state electricity sales

10. 23%
49%
All buildings
Source: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/65298.pdf
R O O F T O P S O L A R P O T E N T I A L 2 0 1 6
POTENTIAL PERCENT OF
POWER FROM LOCAL
ROOFTOP SOLAR
Over 50%
40 to 50%
25 to 40%
11 to 25%
2008 data
40-50%
25-40%
Over
50%
Over
50%
25-40%

11. Costofelectricity
0.0¢
2.0¢
4.0¢
6.0¢
8.0¢
10.0¢
12.0¢
14.0¢
Residential ≤10 10-20 20-50 50-100 100-250 250-500 500-1000 5-10 MW 10 to
20 MW
20 to
100 MW
100 to
1,000 MW
S O L A R C O M P E T E S AT M O S T S I Z E S
kilowatts megawatts
Sources: Tracking the Sun IX and Utility-Scale Solar 2015
(SunShot, Berkeley Labs); EIA (2014 data); CPUC (2011); NYMEX (2016); ILSR
DOES NOT INCLUDE COST OF DELIVERY
Residential
retail price
Commercial
retail price
Industrial
retail price Calif. Market Price Referent
Price of competition
Price advantage
Estimated levelized cost of electricity based on reported 2015 costs*

12. F R O M E N E R G Y M O N O P O LY
T O E N E R G Y D E M O C R A C Y
Before
After

13. S T O RY: C O M M U N I T Y
S O L A R I N K E E N E , N H

14. 0¢
5¢
10¢
15¢
20¢
Lease A Lease B PPA*
0¢
5¢
10¢
15¢
20¢
SOLAR COSTS MORE FOR NON-TAXABLE
ORGANIZATIONS
Incentives
do not apply
to tax-
exempt
entities
Depreciation
only
Tax credit only
Tax credit
and
depreciation
Transaction
costs
Tax credit
and
depreciation
Transaction
costs
Transaction
costs
15.5¢
14.1¢ 13.7¢
12.3¢
11.2¢
Federal tax credit = 30% off
Depreciation = ~24% off
*PPA not legal in 25 states
Solar cost per kilowatt-hour
Purchase via third partyNon-profit
For-profit or
individual

15. H I G H F E D E R A L C O M P L I A N C E C O S T S
59%
Annual compliance
costs as a percent of
project upfront cost,
25 kW solar project

16. L I M I T S T O S H A R I N G
Prohibited in 34 states

17. C O M M U N I T Y R E N E WA B L E
E N E R G Y P R O J E C T S L A W

18. W E N E E D T O G E T
R E A D Y

19. S O L A R G R O W T H D E S T R O Y S F O R E C A S T S
Source: https://twitter.com/
aukehoekstra/status/
866313289306963969

20. 1 I N S TA L L
E V E RY 6 0
S E C O N D S

21. Solar PV could provide fully half of
global electricity by 2050
Source: http://bit.ly/2f6Anfk
S O L A R G R O W T H D E S T R O Y S F O R E C A S T S

22. Source: http://bit.ly/2gKCKVc

23. W I N D P R I C E C O U L D FA L L B Y H A L F
Gas, fuel only
Source: http://bit.ly/2f6Anfk

24. B AT T E R I E S A R E G E T T I N G C H E A P

25. B AT T E R I E S A R E G E T T I N G C H E A P
Actual

26. C H A N G E J U M P S
B O U N D A R I E S

27. D O U B L E T H E R A N G E , S A M E P R I C E

28. E L E C T R I C V E H I C L E O W N E R S H I P
1 0 - Y E A R S AV I N G S
$0
$3,000
$6,000
$9,000
$12,000
$15,000
2017 Nissan Leaf v. Nissan Versa
10-year sched. maintenance savings
10-year fuel cost savings (est.)
Battery replacement cost (est.)
Does not include typical repairs
unique to gasoline cars, including
timing belts, water pumps, etc.

29. I T ’ S C O M I N G F O R Y O U R F U R N A C E …

31. 53% used on-site
S T O RY: H A WA I I
S O L A R A L O N E
S O L A R + E V + B AT T E RY
+ S M A RT C O N T R O L S
89% used on-site

32. B AT T E R I E S G I V E E L E C T R I C
C U S T O M E R S C H O I C E
Number of commercial electricity customers who can subscriber to tariffs with demand charges in excess of $15/kW
Source: http://bit.ly/2gK7fdO

33. W H O W I L L L E A D ?

34. “We come to work each day to
do what we did the day before”

35. D I S R U P T I O N
Photo credits:
Donnie Ray Jones and Billy Brown via Flickr

36. S M A RT P H O N E I M A G E
Raise your hand if
your smartphone
was manufactured
by…

37. …your landline
phone company?

38. “Monopolies
don’t
innovate”

40. O V E R - R U L I N G R E G U L AT O R S

41. C U T T I N G C O M P E T I T I O N

42. P O L I T I C A L J I U - J I T S U

43. S T O RY: K I T C A R S O N
E L E C T R I C C O O P E R AT I V E

44. U T I L I T Y S H A R E
Municipal (Troy)
1%
Cooperative
30%
Investor-owned
69%

45. E X P E R I M E N T I N G W I T H
C O M M U N I T Y S O L A R

46. E X P E R I M E N T I N G W I T H
C O M M U N I T Y S O L A R
Source: ILSR’s Community Power Map

47. S T U C K I N L O N G C O N T R A C T S
Great River Energy
Tri-State
Seminole Electric
Basin Electric
0 17 34 51 6820502032 2084
Typical power contract expiration date for members co-ops of…
2066
2045
2050
2055
2070

48. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY
Source: Northern Plains Resource Council

49. 3 WAY S Y O U C A N L E A D

51. 1

52. 3 0 H O U S E H O L D S
2 1 0 K I L O WAT T S
6 J O B S
$ 1 M I L L I O N

53. 2

54. Commission-approved tariffs
Existing programs
Midwest Energy
NH Elec. Co-op
Roanoke Elec. Co-op
How$mart KY
Several co-ops offer inclusive
energy financing
Central Elec. Power
Ouachita Electric
Clean Energy Works Portland

55. 3

57. S T O RY: M I N N E A P O L I S

58. W R A P U P ! N E T
M E T E R I N G S T O RY

59. 1 9 7 9

60. S U R P R I S E !

61. www.ilsr.org
C H A N G I N G
T H E R U L E S
P R O V I D I N G
T O O L S
1 0 0 % R E N E WA B L E
L O C A L E C O N O M Y
H U M A N
S C A L E
L O C A L
O W N E R S H I P
D E M O C R AT I C
A U T H O R I T Y
I L L U S T R AT I N G
T H E V I S I O N

62. Beyond Sharing: How Communities
Can Take Ownership of Renewable
Power
The electric utility monopoly is breaking up, but will new companies
make renewable energy become another form of wealth extraction or
can community renewable energy enable communities to capture their
renewable power?
John Farrell
April 2016
www.ilsr.org
R E A D O U R
R E P O R T S
R E A D M O R E
@johnffarrell
F O L L O W