Some of the region’s state legislatures and largest utilities have been working to restrict access to solar power and energy efficiency. But clean energy advocates are pushing back.
Some of the region’s state legislatures and largest utilities have been working to restrict access to solar power and energy efficiency. But clean energy advocates are pushing back.
Appalachian Voices participated in a recent summit on economic diversification in Southwest Virginia.
More than 300 people turned out for the recent Southwest Virginia Economic Forum hosted by UVA-Wise — perhaps the largest gathering of people coming together to talk specifically and hopefully about solutions for the region’s economic future. A week later, the positive energy coming out of the forum is still palpable in the community, with some feeling it may have been the turning point for the region.
By banding together in solar cooperatives, residents are negotiating better prices for home solar installations, supporting each other through the process, and becoming more empowered solar advocates.
North Carolina ranked second in solar growth for 2015, and a Virginia solar project is moving forward after an initial roadblock from state regulators.
While football fans were pumping up for the Big Game last weekend, supporters of clean power in Virginia were gearing up for a different showdown as key committees in the General Assembly prepared to take up important clean energy legislation.
North Carolina’s elected leaders and agency officials, with little say from the citizens they represent, have placed us on a reckless course in regard to our future energy mix and our ability as a state to determine that future. But together we can change that.
Appalachian Power Company customers gathered in Roanoke recently to learn more about their electricity provider’s long-term resource plans and get involved in these critical decisions. Here’s a look at how APCo’s plan stands to impede Virginia from harnessing its full renewable energy potential.
Duke Energy wants to smack down NC WARN for setting up a experimental solar project on the rooftop of a Greensboro church and testing a law prohibiting third-party electricity sales in North Carolina. The company is not helping its reputation for quashing clean energy efforts that aren’t its own.
As one rural electric cooperative in Appalachia expands clean energy and technology, other utilities in the region can learn from its example of leadership. Appalachian Electric Cooperative is launching a community solar program, conducting a feasibility study for fiber optic internet and leading the way forward for rural energy efficiency programs in Tennessee.