Community Supported Energy

Greg Pahl of the Vermont Biofuels Association has been writing lately about Community Supported Energy (CSE), which works similarly to its cousin in agriculture -- the CSA. Energy projects are owned by either a local cooperative or by the entire community. Pahl cites an NREL study that found that local ownership increases a projects local income by a factor of three, and doubles the number of jobs created. His article also discusses the power of using Standard Offer Contracts (Advanced Renewable Tariffs) to promote creation of CSE projects.

Local Energy discussed the benefits of cooperative ownership for its Santa Fe Biomass-Fired District Heating Study, for which Michael Shuman calculated a potential benefit to the community of nearly $9 billion dollars over the project's 50-year lifetime.

The most successful U.S. model for promoting CSE is currently Co-op Power (www.cooppower.coop), although I know there are many more under development. A PDF describing their business model is posted here.

Thanks much to Kelley Rajala of The Livability Project for bringing the CSE model to my attention!