Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy
Pioneering community-owned renewable energy
I was in Mexico Beach last winter and stood in the midst of Hurricane Michael’s lingering devastation– broken glass, shredded trees, leveled houses, piles of debris, “don’t forget us” graffiti, and blue tarp band-aids. One week ago, I monitored the developments of Hurricane Dorian, having planned to be in Miami during its anticipated landfall. Once
Just a week after breaking ground, a half megawatt of solar panels arrived on site today for installation on the Poor Handmaids Center at Donaldson Phase 2 solar project. Hat’s off to the Center’s provincial and laystaff for this great work. Green Alternatives, Inc. of Kokomo, Indiana, the installer in cooperation with its industry partners
This is what progress looks like– vision, purpose, plan and act. The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ have broken ground on their 515kW (more than ½ a megawatt) phase 2 solar at The Center at Donaldson. The provincial and laystaff are showing others the way to move forward on clean energy, cooperation, and climate in
I’ve just read a chapter from a forthcoming book that I think recommends itself as necessary reading for AIRE’s project partners and anyone working toward democratic energy, sustainable communities, and humanity’s common future. I don’t intend this to be a chapter review. Instead, I want to highlight some of the key ideas in it and
AIRE has been a fan of Nancy LaPlaca, J.D., ever since she relocated to North Carolina in 2014. Now, AIRE’s extremely gratified to be working together with her as she brings great energy and passion, as well as deep knowledge and experience of utilities policy into our practice. Nancy has three decades of experience in
With Phase 1 solar now operational and generating good results, the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ with their various missions at The Center at Donaldson are wasting no time lighting up a Phase 2, some 5 times bigger (just over 500kW). The provincial and lay leadership behind this great work (and I do mean to
Think your electric utility knows what’s best for you and the public interest? Your utility is probably not looking out for you nearly as much as it’s looking out for its profits and executives. Can we imagination a better way? Could these big utilities be equitably transformed to “public utilities?” (1) We’re at a real
Hat’s off to Mike Collins and WFAE/Charlotte Talks for the debate that aired on Thursday, November 30th. Old foes Jim Warren of NC WARN and Duke Energy PR man Randy Wheeless meet again. Listen or watch the debate here. Fracking, pipelines, hog waste, externalities, profits and “show me the money”…oh my. I will publish a