In 4 weeks, citizens of Decorah, Iowa, will vote whether to take over the electric company for more local control. In this talk from March 26, John Farrell explains the advantages and opportunities of local power.

1. L O C A L P O W E R F O R T H E
L O C A L E C O N O M Y
E N E R G Y D E M O C R A C Y F R O M A C I T Y- O W N E D U T I L I T Y
John Farrell
Director of Energy DemocracyMarch 26, 2018
Presentation in Decorah, IA

2. W H Y L O C A L ? ( PA R T 1 )

3. L E T ’ S WA R M U P

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

5. A. 25%
B. 55%
C. 175%
D. 5,200%
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
Percentage of state electricity sales
A. 25%
B. 55%
C. 175%
D. 5,200%
E. 27,000%

7. 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

8. L E T ’ S WA R M U P ( # 2 )

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. 15%
C. 36%
D. 59%
E.112%
Percentage of state electricity sales

10. 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. 36%
D. 59%
E. 112%
Percentage of state electricity sales

11. 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%

12. W H Y L O C A L ? ( PA R T 1 )
You can do it!

13. W H Y L O C A L ? ( PA R T 2 )

14. C O M M U N I T Y C H O I C E

15. C O M M U N I T I E S WA N T C O N T R O L
Over 50 U.S. cities have made 100% renewable
commitments

16. W H AT S TAT E W I L L H AV E
T W O C I T I E S W I T H 1 0 0 %
R E N E WA B L E B Y 2 0 2 0 ?

17. Georgetown
Denton
Both with municipal utilities!

18. More solar watts per capita than any other utility?

19. More solar watts per capita than any other utility!
Farmers Electric
Cooperative
Kalona

20. W H Y L O C A L ? ( PA R T 2 )
You choose

21. W H Y L O C A L ? ( PA R T 3 )

22. S O L A R E C O N O M I E S O F S C A L E
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
Estimated levelized cost of
electricity (plus delivery)
based on reported 2015 costs*
Sources: Tracking the Sun IX and Utility-Scale Solar 2015
(SunShot, Berkeley Labs); SAM (NREL); Crossborder; EIA; ILSR
Uses residential electricity rates of 12¢, commercial
of 10¢ per kilowatt-hour (U.S. Average, EIA)
Actual cost to“purchase” grid-exported power
via net metering
kilowatts megawatts
DOESN’T INCLUDE LOCAL CAPACITY VALUE
OR AVOIDED TRANSMISSION LOSSES OF
DISTRIBUTED SOLAR

23. L O C A L S P E N D I N G VA L U E O F S O L A R
Valueoflocalspendingforproject“softcosts”
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
Sources: Crossborder; ILSR
Assumes local soft costs are 25% of installed costs
for residential, 6% for large commercial, and
linearly distributed in between
Value of local spending during project installation
(20-year net present value)
kilowatts megawatts

24. L O C A L S P E N D I N G VA L U E O F S O L A R
Costtopurchaseenergylessvalueoflocalspending
forproject“softcosts”
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
kilowatts megawatts
Cost of energy to grid less local spending benefits
Sources: Tracking the Sun IX and Utility-Scale Solar 2015
(SunShot, Berkeley Labs); SAM (NREL); Crossborder; EIA; ILSR
Uses residential electricity rates of 12¢, commercial of 10¢ per
kilowatt-hour (U.S. Average, EIA); assumes local soft costs are
25% of installed costs (Crossborder)

25. W H Y L O C A L ?
You can
You choose
It pays

26. W H AT ’ S W R O N G W I T H
T H E S TAT U S Q U O ?

27. P R O F I T S L E AV E

28. T H I S R E Q U I R E S …

29. … A L A W Y E R

30. P O W E R T O S T O P E N E R G Y S AV I N G S

31. Undercutting a solar study

32. $88,000 in campaign contributions in 2016 alone
Candidates for office
2016
88,000
Eighty-eight thousand and zero/100
Influence Patricia Leonard Kampling
FollowTheMoney.org

33. ilsr.org

34. I N C U M B E N T S O P P O S E L O C A L C O N T R O L

35. Y O U ’ R E N O T A L O N E

36. 2 , 0 0 0 M U N I C I PA L U T I L I T I E S
Mutual aid

37. H U N D R E D S O F C O M M U N I T Y C H O I C E
P R O G R A M S

38. PA R T O F A L A R G E R G R I D

39. K E Y I S S U E : I N V E S T O R -
O W N E D A L L I A N T H A S A
D U T Y T O S H A R E H O L D E R
VA L U E

40. Y O U C A N , Y O U S H O U L D , I T PAY S
M U N I C I PA L I Z E ?

41. 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

42. 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