² The "sleeping giant" theme dominated a recent conference, "Local Governments and Electric Industry Restructuring" (Crystal City, Va.: June, 1997), sponsored by Barnstable County, Mass., as part of a national project funded by the Urban Consortium Energy Task Force and Public Technology, Inc. Generally, see also Scott Ridley, "Local Government: The Sleeping Giant in Electric Industry Restructuring," The Electricity Journal 10 (November 1997), pp. 13-21.
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³ Definitions of "renewable resources" vary. In California's restructuring law, Assembly Bill 1890, the term encompasses solar; wind; geothermal; solid fuel biomass; tire combustion; some municipal solid waste; gas from anaerobic digestion of biological wastes; and hydropower facilities under 30 megawatts.
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⁴ For this topic, see John Dunlop, Wind Clusters: Expanding the Market Appeal of Wind Energy Systems, Issue Brief No. 4 (College Park, Md.: Renewable Energy Policy Project, November 1996). Order from REPP at (202) 293-2833.
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⁵ Barbara Farhar, Energy and the Environment: The Public View, Issue Brief No. 3 (College Park, Md.: Renewable Energy Policy Project, 1996). Order from REPP at (202) 293-2833. See also Kari Smith, Customer Driven Markets for Renewably Generated Electricity, (Sacramento, Calif.: Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, August 1996), pp. 8-11. Contact CEERT at (916) 442-7785.
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⁶ Ed Smeloff and Peter Asmus, Reinventing Electric Utilities: Competition, Citizen Action and Clean Power (Washington, DC: Island Press, 1997).
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⁷ Generally, government franchises grant a right or privilege to do business. Franchise agreements take diverse forms: exclusive or open; fixed or indeterminate terms; negotiable, revocable or renewable with conditions. Local governments not only have the authority to grant a franchise sales agreement for electric service; they also may issue a power purchase contract on behalf of their citizens. In most states, local governments also have some legislative authority; in Texas, local governments still set electric rates.
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⁸ For example, see the work of Don Bain on the role counties can play in developing ordinances for siting wind turbines. Bain can be reached at the Oregon Office of Energy, 6935 SW 45th Ave., Portland, Ore. 97219-1506; or at donbain@aol.com.
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⁹ David Nye, Electrifying America: Social Meanings of a New Technology, 1880-1940 (Cambridge. Mass.: MIT Press, 1990), pp. 175-181.
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¹⁰ Ibid., p. 175.
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¹¹ Ibid., p. 180; Paul Fry, "In Defense of the Municipal Utility," Public Power (September-October 1995).
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¹² Timothy Brennan et al., A Shock to the System: Restructuring America's Electricity Industry (Washington, DC: Resources for the Future, 1996), p. 20.
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¹³ David Penn, Local Government and Electric Industry Restructuring, (Washington, DC: American Public Power Association, June 1997) p. 5, part A; p. 12, part B. The APPA can be reached at (202) 467-2900.
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¹⁴ See, for instance, John Stutz et al., Can We Get There From Here? The Challenge of Restructuring the Electricity Market So That All Can Benefit (Boston, Mass.: Tellus Institute; and Madison, Wis.: Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., April 1996). Tellus can be contacted at (617) 665-5400. See also Martin Schweitzer, Municipal Utilities: Establishment and Transformation, ORNL/CON-416 (Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, June 1995).
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¹⁵ AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NE, NM, OH, OK, OR, SC, SD, TX, VA, WA, WY.
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¹⁶ CT, HI, IN, MD, MA, MT, NJ, NC, ND, RI. See Barnstable Country Commissioners, Community Franchise Study: An Option for Local Governments Facing the Challenge of Electric Industry Restructuring (May 1997). Request copies from Barnstable County at (508) 362-2511, ext. 315.
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¹⁷ Scott Ridley, Profiles of Power (Washington, DC: American Public Power Association, 1996), pp. 53-54.
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¹⁸ For more information about Palm Springs' aggregation efforts contact Arthur Lyons at (619) 864-9760.
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¹⁹ Personal e-mail correspondence with the author (9 September 1997).
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²⁰ Alan Schurr of PG&E Energy Services, private communication with the author (15 September 1997).
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²¹ See Ryan Wiser and Steve Pickle, Green Marketing, Renewables, and Free Riders: Increasing Customer demand for a Public Good, LBNL-40632 (Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, September 1997). The authors suggest market mechanisms that can alleviate the free rider problem.
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²² Karl Rábago, Environmental Defense Fund, internet posting (18 July 1997). Used with permission.
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²³ Nancy Cole and P.J. Skerrett, Renewables Are Ready: People Creating Renewable Energy Solutions, Union of Concerned Scientists/Real Goods Independent Living (White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Publishing Co., 1995).
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²⁴ For SMUD generally, see Smeloff and Asmus, Reinventing Electric Utilities.
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²⁵ Asmus, "Electric Resource Planning: A Case Study," California Policy Choices 8 (Sacramento, Calif.: University of Southern California School of Public Administration, 1992), p. 227.
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²⁶ For more information see SMUD's website at: http://www.SMUD.org/green.
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²⁷ In green pricing programs, a regulated utility invites customers to pay a premium for clean electricity. See Ed Holt, Green Pricing Resource Guide (Gardiner, Maine: Regulatory Assistance Project, February 1997). Contact RAP at (207) 582-1135. For Windsource, see "PSCO Green Pricing Program Gaining Momentum," Wind Energy Weekly 16 (14 April 1997), pp. 2-3; "Romer Commits Colorado to Greater Use of Wind Energy," Wind Energy Weekly 16 (25 August 1997), pp. 1,3.
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²⁸ Land and Water Fund of the Rockies/Community Office for Resource Efficiency, Promoting Renewable Energy in a Market Environment: A Community-Based Approach for Aggregating Green Demand (Boulder, Colo.: May 1997), p. 5. For information on this report contact lwfenergy@aol.com.
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²⁹ LAW/CORE, Promoting Renewable Energy..., p. 5.
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³⁰ Philip Carver et al., "The Changing World of Climate Change: Oregon Leads the States," The Electricity Journal 10 (May 1997), pp. 53-63.
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³¹ Mike Lindberg, Susan Anderson and Dave Tooze, The City's Role in a Changing Electric Utility Environment (Portland, Ore.: City of Portland Energy Office, October 1996), p. 28. For more information on the Portland aggregation experience, call Susan Anderson at (503) 823-7222.
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³² Nancy Brockway, attorney and utility analyst, National Consumer Law Center, "Competitive Selection of Franchises: The Barnstable County Example," Local Government and Electric Industry Restructuring conference (Crystal City, Va.: June 1997)
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³³ Interview by the author of Matthew Patrick, Executive Director of the Cape & Islands Self-Reliance Corporation (18 September 1997). Mr. Patrick can be reached for further information at (508) 457-7679.
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³⁴ Izaak Walton League of America, Wind on the Wires: A Model for Municipal Utility Investment in Wind Energy, (Minneapolis, Minn.: June 1996). For further information, contact Bill Grant at (612) 922-1608
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³⁵ Community Energy Cooperative Development Team, Community Energy Cooperative (Burlington, Vt.: Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, February 1997) p. 6. Contact Executive Director Beth Sachs at (802) 658-6060, ext. 20 for more information.
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³⁶ Nancy Day of New Energy Ventures, personal communication with the author (9 May 1997).
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