Podcasts about local self reliance

In this eye-opening episode of the Good Food CFO podcast, Sarah Delevan talks with Stacy Mitchell, co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, about the myths of market consolidation and how food founders can fight back against corporate monopolies. Stacy Mitchell is a writer, strategist, and policy advocate whose work focuses on dismantling concentrated corporate power and building thriving local economies. As co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, she has played a leading role in today's growing anti-monopoly movement and has authored influential works including "Big Box Swindle" and "Amazon's Stranglehold." You'll hear: The Invisible Rules: How corporations have made market rules invisible, positioning us as consumers rather than citizens with power to change policies Myth-Busting: Hard evidence disproving the "bigger is better" narrative, including the North Dakota pharmacy model that outperforms corporate chains Food System Consolidation: How the suspension of the Robinson-Patman Act in 1980 allowed big retailers to demand preferential treatment, squeezing independent grocers Beyond Consumer Power: Why "voting with your dollars" is important but insufficient for creating systemic change Paths Forward: Practical actions for founders to engage with local policymakers and join the growing movement to enforce antitrust laws Signs of Hope: Recent shifts in policy approach showing how the tide is turning against unchecked consolidation More from Stacy:  Institute for Local Self-Reliance "The Great Grocery Squeeze" in The Atlantic Stacy's TED Talk: "Why We Can't Shop Our Way to a Better Economy"   This episode is brought to you by Settle.  Settle helps you make smarter decisions, and keep your business on track to grow sustainably. Head over to settle.com/goodfood to learn how brands like Carnivore Snax use Settle to manage their cash flow and growth.   Join The Good Food CFO Community:  Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo  Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan  Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo  Become a Member: BABOYOT

This week we're chatting with Stacy Mitchell of the Institute of Local Self Reliance about her recent article in the Atlantic entitled The Great Grocery Squeeze. We chat about the deregulation mood of the 70s and 80s and what that's meant for shopping, access, and how much we drive. +++ Follow us on Bluesky, Threads, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr, Substack ... @theoverheadwire Follow us on Mastadon theoverheadwire@sfba.social Support the show on Patreon http://patreon.com/theoverheadwire Buy books on our Bookshop.org Affiliate site!  And get our Cars are Cholesterol shirt at Tee-Public! And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Breakups are always hard. Especially when you’re two of the largest grocery mega-conglomerates in the country. Last week two judges – including a federal judge in Oregon and a superior court judge based in Seattle – officially blocked a merger between grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons. The companies had argued they needed to unite to compete with the likes of Wal-Mart. While an appeal is possible, Albertsons has backed out of the merger altogether and is now suing Kroger for $600 million over legal fees and the shareholder value it claims it lost in the merger attempt. It’s a big deal for the state of Washington, and not only because Governor-Elect Bob Ferguson sued to stop the merger as Attorney General. He argued it would lower competition in the industry and raise grocery prices. It was also a big deal because it would’ve meant the likely sale of 124 grocery stores here – the most of any state – to a third-party company. So... the big grocery merger is dead a major victory for Ferguson and FTC chair Lina Khan, who’s credited with reviving the federal government’s role in antitrust enforcement. But this is also an inflection point for the future of antitrust. President Trump has tapped new leaders for the FTC and the Justice Department’s antitrust division. Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is wrapping up a hearing on “A Bipartisan Path Forward for Antitrust," where Senator Amy Klobuchar says she hopes to highlight the ways Democrats and Republicans can work together on tackling anti-competitive monopolies, including in the tech industry. So what happened to spoil the Kroger-Albertsons partnership plans, and will the next big merger go forward under Trump? Soundside spoke with John Kirkwood, a professor at Seattle University School of Law. He’s a nationally-renowned antitrust expert and established the first antitrust policy office at the FTC. Soundside also spoke with Stacy Mitchell, the co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The group opposed the Albertsons-Kroger merger. Mitchell wrote two recent articles in The Atlantic exploring the history of food deserts what the merger's failure means for the FTC going forward. Guests: John Kirkwood, professor at Seattle University School of Law. He’s a nationally-renowned antitrust expert and established the first antitrust policy office at the FTC. Stacy Mitchell, co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Related links: Read Stacy Mitchell's story in The Atlantic here: The Hidden Cause of Food Deserts - The Atlantic Lina Khan Goes Out With a Bang - The Atlantic Building an oasis in a rural WA ‘food desert’ | The Seattle Times KUOW - Albertsons calls off merger with Kroger. Now what? Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trump has nominated Brendan Carr to chair the FCC, calling him a “warrior for Free Speech” who “will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America's Job Creators and Innovators, ​​and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America." But as tech journalist Karl Bode explains, Carr has threatened to go after media outlets that criticize Trump, and his plans for rural broadband are even worse. And Liz and Andrew break down the issue “scrutiny” in Skrmetti, the SCOTUS case on healthcare for trans kids. Plus, we check in with Rudy Giuliani's shenanigans in the subscriber bonus.   Links: Skrmetti: It Was THAT Bad https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/skrmetti-it-was-that-bad   Institute for Local Self Reliance https://ilsr.org/   Karl Bode at Techdirt https://www.techdirt.com/user/kbode/    Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod Patreon: patreon.com/LawAndChaosPod  

Will the future of energy be driven by massive utility solar farms or millions of local rooftop systems? John Farrell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance shares his insights on how utility monopolies are strangling local solar efforts -- especially in California -- where monopoly utilities are locking customers into sky-high rates. The conversation delves into the growing trend of “grid defection” as consumers use their own solar and battery systems to reduce their dependence on utility power. With an appropriately sized solar and battery system -- with a little help from a friendly EV -- it is indeed possible to cut the cord with the utility completely. Locations with lots of sunlight and high electric rates will be the first places where people can cost effectively ditch their local utility. With all due respect to Alice's Restaurant…could this be the start of a nationwide movement? Please tune into this week's Energy Show episode at www.energyshow.biz.

Co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and director of the Energy Democracy Initiative, John Farrell, discusses his recent report on the 100-year-old business model granting private exclusive power over the public resource of electricity. Learn about the abuses that come from allowing private monopoly power to control electricity, including pollution-linked deaths, price-hiking, power-shutoffs for low-income families and other publicly borne burdens. The discussion also includes recommended structural reforms for restoring competition and equilibrium to the sector.

Today, three to five giant corporations control up to 80% of almost every industry and marketplace. These monopolies depress wages, exploit workers, and decimate small businesses. Stacy Mitchell from the Institute for Local Self Reliance has been a leader in a growing anti-monopoly movement with a broad political base. Can this emerging movement – along with bold federal antitrust action –  create a force that can challenge corporate power for the first time in decades?  Featuring Stacy Mitchell, a Maine-based writer, strategist, and policy advocate whose work focuses on dismantling concentrated corporate power and building thriving communities and a healthy democracy, has played a leading role in today's growing anti-monopoly movement. She is Co-Executive Director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) and the author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses, and co-author of the influential report: Amazon's Stranglehold. Resources Stacy Mitchell – Democracy vs. Big Tech: How We Can Win the Fight Against Monopoly Power | Bioneers 2024 Keynote Democracy v. Plutocracy: Behind Every Great Fortune Lies a Great Crime Our Economic Future: Achieving a More Equitable Society by Radically Rethinking Our Guiding Economic Ideas | Bioneers Reade Credits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Kenny Ausubel Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Producer: Teo Grossman Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to learn more.

This week on CounterSpin: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote dozens of pages justifying his decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, stating the Constitution does not confer the right to determine whether or when to give birth. None of those pages mention his intention to make the United States “a place of godliness,” or his belief that there can be no compromise on such concerns, because “one side or the other is going to win.” Yet those are thoughts Alito freely expressed with a woman he thought was just a stranger at a public event. Will elite news media now suggest we just go back to considering the Supreme Court a neutral body, deserving of life terms because they're above the fray of politics? Jim Naureckas is editor of FAIR.org and the newsletter Extra!. We talk to him about this. The news that “the economy” is doing great on paper doesn't square with the tone-deaf messaging from food companies about mysteriously stubborn high prices. Nothing suggests a media universe that takes seriously the widespread struggle to meet basic needs. This may explain the failure to find the story in the upsurge in dollar stores, supposedly filling a void for low-income people, but actually just another avenue for ripping them off. We talk about that with Kennedy Smith from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.   The post Jim Naureckas on Secret Alito Tape / Kennedy Smith on Dollar Store Invasion appeared first on KPFA.

Is 2024 the year of trust-busting? This bipartisan issue of small versus big is a fight taking place on the streets and in the federal and state courts; led by grassroots movements and consumer protest. The Biden administration has stepped up anti-trust action, but the number of merger filings is also up. What should we make of this moment? To help answer that question, Laura is joined by two experts on anti-trust action: Stacy Mitchell, Co-Executive Director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Matt Stoller, author of “Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy” and publisher of the newsletter “BIG” on Substack. Mitchell has played a leading role in today's growing anti-monopoly movement and her work informed the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit against Amazon in 2023. Stoller is the former policy advisor to the Senate Budget Committee and also worked for a member of the Financial Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives during the financial crisis. In this episode, they unpack how decades of corporate consolidation did not lead to cheaper prices, better service or more jobs, but instead worsened our local economies, the quality of our lives and democracy. How have people power and government action together brought about a shift? Is it real? Hear why one guest calls this moment a delayed policy reaction to the 2008 financial crisis, plus a commentary from Laura for tax day.“What we are seeing in this administration is we actually have people in place who are making huge change and are using the tools to the full extent that they have . . . There is a lot of grassroots support for the idea of dealing with corporate power. Everybody is feeling this . . .” - Stacy Mitchell“It's very clear that not having competition in these markets kills . . . In areas like hospices and elder care, dialysis or other parts of healthcare people die. And also in things like Boeing, people die.” - Matt StollerGuests:•  Stacy Mitchell: Co-Executive Director, Institute for Local Self-Reliance•  Matt Stoller: Research Director, American Economic Liberties Project; Publisher, BIG & Author, Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy Full Episode Notes are located HERE.  They include related episodes, articles, and more.Music In the Middle:  “Culture Today” by Edy Forey. the title track from their new album.  And additional music included- "Steppin"  by Podington Bear. Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders, Sabrina Artel, David Neuman, Nat Needham, Rory O'Conner, Janet Hernandez, Sarah Miller and Jeannie Hopper, Nady Pina, Jordan Flaherty FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LFAndFriendsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

From hiring previously incarcerated folks and those in addiction recovery to implementing an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), Gina Schaefer's story of entrepreneurship demonstrates what it can look like to understand and support the community you serve.When Gina moved into a forlorn neighborhood that needed a hardware store, she built one. When she thought the recovery community needed businesses to believe in them, she became one, and when she suggested that inequality could be helped with business ownership, she began selling hers to her team.Gina Schaefer is the Founder and Co-Owner of 13 hardware stores located in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, and their suburbs. She and her team of 300 have helped millions of customers shop right where they live, in their urban communities, despite continuous pressure from bigger, stronger competitors.In her book, Recovery Hardware, Gina chronicles her experiences building a business while learning from non-traditional teachers like folks from the recovery community and returning citizens. She serves as an advocate and spokesperson for causes directly related to raising wages, anti-monopoly legislation and small business development.Gina serves as board chair for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and is a member of CCA Global Partners' Board of Directors. She spent 9 years on the corporate board of Ace Hardware and 12 with the House of Ruth. Gina's guiding principle comes from a treasured quote “I always wondered when somebody would do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody”. Join Julie and Gina for a masterclass in resilience, adaptability, and community-centric business strategies.Identifying a Market Need and the Challenges of Business Growth (00:01:18)Gina's motivation for starting a hardware store, her role in supporting the recovery community, and the challenges of being a woman in the hardware store industry and having locations not succeed.The First Hardware Store (00:04:20)The process of bringing the idea of a hardware store to fruition, merchandising in a small store, and adapting to neighborhood needs..Scaling and Process Efficiency (00:12:00)The process of opening new stores and the learning curve in optimizing operations with each new location, as well as maintaining focus while expanding the business.Empowering store managers and ESOP structure (00:17:59)Empowering store managers to act as owners and the process and benefits of ESOP.Empathy and Inclusivity in Hiring (00:26:06)Gina shares her approach to hiring individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences.Philanthropy and Impact Investing (00:36:09)Gina explores her philanthropic efforts, impact investing initiatives, and her role in supporting causes and young entrepreneurs.Management lessons (00:37:49)Gina reflects on not asking enough questions about HR and finance, and her desire to help others avoid similar mistakes.You can connect with Gina on her website, LinkedIn and Instagram.You can connect with Julie on LinkedIn or Instagram. Find Julie's writing at her blog or by ordering Big Gorgeous Goals. What did you think of this conversation? We'd love if you'd rate or review our show!

Electric utility monopolies have captured headlines in recent years by sparking catastrophic wildfires and fomenting public corruption scandals in several states. "There are probably other things like this going on we just haven't found out about," remarks John Farrell, director of the Energy Democracy Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. We spoke with him about his recent article in the American Prospect, How private monopolies fuel climate disaster and public corruption. Farrell speaks to how the investor-owned utility's interests in earning a return for its shareholders typically don't align with the interests of its customers or the environment. "You have concentrated ownership and power over the system in a way that's not terribly accountable to people," Farrell observes. Farrell advocates municipalization, seeing publicly owned monopolies as an improvement over for-profit utility monopolies, particularly when it comes to cost of capital. But he also advocates for greater competition in electricity, and for adopting measures such as independent distribution system management and quarantining the monopoly from competitive markets. "When you create a competitive market, it really needs to be truly competitive. And the idea of letting the monopoly continue to participate is problematic," he says.Support the show

Brenda Platt is the director and life-force behind the Composting for Community Initiative of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. ILSR has a vision of thriving, diverse, equitable communities. To reach this vision, they build local power to fight corporate control. They are a national research and advocacy organization that partners with allies across the country to build an American economy driven by local priorities accountable to people and the planet. Today, we're going to talk about one of the institutes five key initiatives: the Composting for Community Initiative is advancing local composting to create jobs, enhance soils, protect the climate, and reduce waste through advocacy, training, research, demonstration sites, and coalition building. Mentioned in the show... The wealth of resources provided by the ISLR on composting Folks who make this show possible... Optimize commercial compost production while maintaining high-quality with Komptech. Use our link here to learn more, get a consultation, and let them know we sent you. Vermont Compost Company for premium living soils, composts, and potting mixes. Invest in your soil! High Country News is an independent, non-profit, publication covering the land, wildlife, and communities of the Western US for over 50+ years. Check them out using our link here. Xsense provides home safety and environmental monitoring products for your peace of mind.

Brenda Platt is the director and life-force behind the Composting for Community Initiative of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. ILSR has a vision of thriving, diverse, equitable communities. To reach this vision, they build local power to fight corporate control. They are a national research and advocacy organization that partners with allies across the country to build an American economy driven by local priorities accountable to people and the planet. Today, we're going to talk about one of the institutes five key initiatives: the Composting for Community Initiative is advancing local composting to create jobs, enhance soils, protect the climate, and reduce waste through advocacy, training, research, demonstration sites, and coalition building. Mentioned in the show... The wealth of resources provided by the ISLR on composting Folks who make this show possible... Optimize commercial compost production while maintaining high-quality with Komptech. Use our link here to learn more, get a consultation, and let them know we sent you. Vermont Compost Company for premium living soils, composts, and potting mixes. Invest in your soil! High Country News is an independent, non-profit, publication covering the land, wildlife, and communities of the Western US for over 50+ years. Check them out using our link here. Xsense provides home safety and environmental monitoring products for your peace of mind.

Stacy Mitchell is Co-Executive Director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a research and advocacy organization that challenges concentrated corporate power and works to build thriving, equitable communities. ILSR has been a pioneering leader in the growing anti-monopoly movement and has a long track record of working alongside grassroots groups to develop better alternatives, from community-owned broadband, to independent businesses, to distributed solar.Stacy recently wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times titled The Real Reason Your Groceries are Getting More Expensive, and has advocated for the FTC revitalizing the anti chain store legislation known as the Robinson Patman Act.Stacy has also produced pivotal research and reporting on the policies driving the decline of small businesses and the economic and political consequences of monopoly power. In 2020, she was profiled by the New York Times for her analysis of Amazon's power and her leadership in building a broad coalition to counter it. Her reports and articles about the tech giant have drawn a wide and influential readership. The House Judiciary Committee cited her research extensively in its “Investigation of Competition in Digital Markets.” In 2022, political strategy firm Baron named her an “Antitrust Super Influencer” for her role in shaping the policy debate.

A recent report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance reveals some shocking facts: In 2021, half of the new stores opened in the U.S. were chain dollar stores. Moreover, Dollar Store and Dollar Tree (which are part of the Family Dollar system) together operate more than 34,000 stores. That's more than McDonald's, Starbucks, Target, and Walmart combined. How did we get to this point, how does this transformation in retail affect local economies, and what can communities do to protect themselves from this "dollar store invasion”? Stacey Mitchell, co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and one of the authors of the aforementioned report, joins Chuck Marohn today on the Strong Towns Podcast for this conversation. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Read The Dollar Store Invasion report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Institute for Local Self-Reliance (website). Stacey Mitchell (Twitter). Chuck Marohn (Twitter).

This week on the podcast, Christopher speaks with Joey Wender, Director of the Capital Projects Fund (CPF), U.S Department of the Treasury. Joey administers the $10 billion fund targeted to help close the digital divide on behalf of the Biden Administration.Joey and Chris discuss the flexibility of CPF funding and how it allows states to tailor their plans to their own needs. The two also talk about the importance of replenishing funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and how it's critical to take action on this now, before the fund actually runs out.  This show is 22 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed. Transcript below. We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here.Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. ★ Support this podcast ★

"When you're the underdog figure out to use this to your advantage." - Gina SchaeferGina Schaefer is the founder and CEO of over a dozen hardware stores in Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD, and the surrounding areas. As a member of the Ace Hardware Cooperative, Gina leads a multimillion-dollar business that employs more than 250 people. She is dedicated to maintaining a strong corporate culture and has begun a transfer of ownership through an ESOP to her teammates. Schaefer's big passion is for developing urban markets, supporting small businesses, and helping women to succeed in all aspects of the hardware industry.She has tirelessly focused on national efforts to increase the federal minimum wage and to pass legislation to strengthen antitrust and monopoly laws.Always striving to be creative, think differently, and make a difference, Gina received the Women Who Mean Business award from the Washington Business Journal and the Top Women in Hardware & Building Supply award. She has been recognized as an industry Top Gun by the National Retail Hardware Association, honored by Profiles in Diversity Journal as one of its Women Worth Watching, and recognized by Hardware and Building Supply Dealer as one of 2016's People of the Year.Gina serves on the Corporate Board of CCA Global and the nonprofit board of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and she previously served as a member of Ace Hardware Corporation Board of Directors and on the nonprofit boards of House of Ruth and Think Local First DC.Click here to subscribe to The Deep Wealth Podcast to save time and effort.SELECTED LINKS FOR THIS EPISODERecovery HardwareRecovery Hardware | InstagramGina Schaefer - Board Member - CCA Global Partners | LinkedInCockroach Startups: What You Need To Know To Succeed And ProsperFREE Deep Wealth eBook on Why You Suck At Selling Your Business And What You Can Do About It (Today)Book Your FREE Deep Wealth Strategy CallResources To Have You Thrive And ProsperThe Deep Wealth Podcast brings you a wealth of world-class thought leaders who share invaluable resources and insights. Click the link below to access the resources, gear, and books that either our guests or the Deep Wealth team leverage to increase success:https://www.deepwealth.com/thriveContact Deep Wealth: Tweet @JeffreyFeldberg LinkedIn Instagram Subscribe to The Deep Wealth Podcast Email podcast[at]deepwealth[dot]com Help us pay it forward by leaving a review.Here's to you and your success!As always, please stay healthy and safe.

What will Amazon do once it's eaten every other business, automated every process, and none of us have any money to buy their products? To find out, musician Oliver Ackermann (A Place To Bury Strangers) interviews Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a national research and advocacy organization that fights corporate control and works to build thriving, equitable communities. She inspires him to create a new song ‘Always Gonna Be The Same'. Stream the song: https://ffm.to/AlwaysGonnaBeTheSame I could spin a story that would make you freak But I'm not thinking of ways to manipulate you - I don't hate you I just want you to enjoy your life And I hope you're a really good potato - Kato I don't wanna live in a stupid world I don't wanna live under their control I don't wanna buy all their useless shit That should just be thrown in a giant pit I don't wanna be hooked on all these drugs Pushed to fund someone's expensive rugs I just wanna live and have some fun I don't need to feel like I have won Cuz it's gross They're lying to our faces It's a show They stripped away their regulations What we don't know Is that they multiplied their operations So if we don't vote Then its always gonna be the same Someone's gotta play the adult in the room - with a broom We can't let these greedy fuckers take another dime - waste of time I would rather be out on vacation - in another nation But we seem to be living with some bad potatoes - Kato I don't wanna live in their stupid world I don't wanna live under their control I don't wanna buy all this useless shit That should just be thrown in a giant pit I don't wanna be hooked on all their drugs Pushed to fund someone's expensive rugs I just wanna help out my fellow man Any fucking way that I can Cuz it's gross They're lying to our faces And it's low They bought a house with our donations What we don't know Is that they buried all the allegations So if we don't vote Then its always gonna be the same --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/podsongs/message

This week on the podcast and on the most Valentines-iest of days, Christopher is joined by Katie Espeseth, Vice President of New Products EPB Fiber, at the municipal network in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After catching up on the release of the network's 25 gigabit service and the latest progress of the HCS EdConnect initiative (which has connected almost 10,000 homes), Katie shares with Christopher how its SmartNet Plus program expands the managed Wi-Fi framework to take advantage of the many devices we all have in our homes that connect to the Internet. The show ends with Katie and Christopher reflecting on how – thanks not only to Chattanooga, but the other cities as well as telephone and electric cooperatives in the state – Tennessee is among the best-connected across the country, with some of the fastest speeds and most affordable rates available.This show is 29 minutes long and can be played on this page or via iTunes or the tool of your choice using this feed. We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index.Subscribe to the Building Local Power podcast, also from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, on iTunes or Stitcher to catch more great conversations about local communities, the concentration of corporate power, and how everyday people are taking control.Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. ★ Support this podcast ★

Look, it's no secret that the internet options in Las Vegas aren't great. We pay more than the rest of the country for slower speeds, and it's worse if you're in lower-income and less white parts of town. But why?? How did we get here? Today, Dayvid talks with Sean Gonsalves, senior reporter, editor and researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, who explains how Cox and CenturyLink established control here (hint: there's a state law involved) and why treating the internet like a locally-owned utility could make all the difference. Don't miss out on tomorrow's episode, too: We're talking with a Nevada state official about the big federal money headed our way for broadband investment — and why he doesn't necessarily think that locally-owned municipal broadband is the answer. What's your internet like in Southern Nevada? Got any good stories, gripes, or ideas? Leave us a voicemail at 702-514-0719. Or leave us a comment on social media @CityCastVegas on Twitter and Instagram. Want more Vegas news? Make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter at lasvegas.citycast.fm/newsletter! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ron Knox, senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, discusses the outcry over Ticketmaster following the Taylor Swift tour presale debacle on Tuesday.

Kroger wants to buy Albertsons and effectively become the second-largest grocery chain in the United States. This merger would result in less competition, rising grocery prices, and lower wages. Corporate greed has gotten us into this mess, but new federal anti-merger guidelines, and some tenacious Attorneys General, may just get us out. Returning guest Stacy Mitchell explains why mergers like this one are bad news for workers and shoppers alike. Stacy Mitchell is Co-Executive Director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a research and advocacy organization that challenges concentrated corporate power and works to build thriving, equitable communities. Twitter: @stacyfmitchell Institute for Local Self-Reliance: https://ilsr.org  Stacy Mitchell Responds to Kroger's Bid to Buy Albertsons https://ilsr.org/statement-kroger-albertsons-merger    Report: How New Federal Anti-merger Guidelines Can Roll Back Corporate Concentration and Build Local Power https://ilsr.org/rolling-back-corporate-concentration-how-new-federal-anti-merger-guidelines-can-restore-competition-and-build-local-power Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Nick's twitter: @NickHanauer

Amazon has come a long way since online book sales. In fact, when it comes to revenue, Jeff Bezos' creation is the world's biggest internet-based company. But what makes the "everything store" so ubiquitous? In large part, it's the small and medium-sized businesses that use the platform to sell their goods. This year, more than 1.9 million of these businesses participated in its marketplace, which accounted for some 60 percent of Amazon's retail sales. But was it ultimately good for them? In the midst of this historic transition in shopping, that's our debate: Is Amazon good for small business?  Debating in favor of the motion is Mark Jamison, economist at the American Enterprise Institute, with Kunal Chopra, tech executive and former Amazon GM. Arguing against the motion is Rana Foroohar, global business columnist at the Financial Times and author of “Don't Be Evil”, with co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Stacy Mitchell. Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is networked geothermal, and how can it drive decarbonization? In this discussion, hosted by Fresh Energy on behalf of the Energy We Can't Afford Coalition, Fresh Energy's Joe Dammel, John Farrell from Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and Zeyneb Magavi from HEET sit down to dive into the details on how geothermal microgrids and district systems can drive cold climate decarbonization and provide an opportunity for larger-scale implementation of geothermal by utilities. 

In the 17th century, humans weren't the only ones voyaging to the U.S. — the Norway rat decided to join the expedition. And ever since, the human and the rat have been inseparable, much to the rat's delight and the human's dismay. Today, rats lurk in underground subways, flourish in commercial centers, burrow in city parks, and scurry across sidewalks. They thrive in any place humans have mismanaged our food disposal systems — hence in cities across the U.S. On this episode of Building Local Power, Bloomberg reporter Linda Poon joins us to talk about how cities are [mis]managing rat infestations. We dive into the decline and spike in rat populations during and after the pandemic, cities' solutions to mitigating rat infestations, and how to shift the public focus from a problem with rats to a more proactive and thoughtful approach to how we discard food. “There is this one statistic called the one in ten rule. It only takes one house to have very sloppy practices to invite a rat infestation into the neighborhood. It really has to be a community effort, which is why it's such a big deal that cities are engaging [the] public [on a] large scale.” – Linda Poon Related Resources I Got a Crash Course in Rodent Control at D.C.'s Rat Academy by Linda Poon Linda Poon's Bloomberg Article Catalog Oh Rats! How to Avoid Rodents at Community Composting Sites The Rodent Academy with Bobby Corrigan Find the Accidental Ecosystem by Peter S. Alagona at your local bookstore! Transcript Linda Poon: The community part is a big deal. There is this one statistic, in our course, that we kept learning, he called it the one in 10 rule. It only takes one house to have very sloppy practices to invite a rat infestation into the neighborhood. It only takes one house to infest 10. It really has to be a community effort, which is why it's such a big deal that cities are engaging public at a large scale. Reggie Rucker: Hello and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance dedicated to challenging corporate monopolies and expanding the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Reggie Rucker, and today we are talking about rats. Now you might be thinking, why are we talking about rats? I have to say, I cannot wait for this conversation. I've lived in DC for a little over a year at this point and I am stunned to the degree that rats are everywhere. When I say everywhere, not so much everywhere I go, although a little bit of that, but it's in my social media feed. People are just constantly talking about rats in this city. And so recently, Luke is going to tell you about some work at our composting team about how you can compost and avoid rats. And so, it just made total sense. We have to have a rat conversation. But before we get into all that, I will pass it over to my cohost, Luke. Luke Gannon: Thank you, Reggie. I haven't lived in a city long enough to experience the rat infestations. As I've been preparing for this show, I've read a bunch of rat articles and I'm just so surprised how big of an issue they are. So, I'm really looking forward to this conversation. But my name is Luke Gannon, and today on the show, we are speaking with a reporter at Bloomberg City Lab, Linda Poon. In her work, Linda covers how to be an activist and an advocate of Asian American communities, the complexities of urban life, how cities are responding to climate disasters and recently, she wrote about a rodent control crash course and the relationship between humans and rats. ILSR released a new guide called Oh, Rats! which looks at how you can safely compost while avoiding rodents completely. So we felt like this was a perfect occasion to have Linda on the show to talk about all things urban, climate change and rats. We are so excited to have you on the show today, Linda. Welcome. Linda Poon: Thank you. I never thought my rat knowledge would take me to places. Luke Gannon: All right, so we'll get started here. So,

On this episode of Building Local Power, Rakeen Mabud the Chief Economist at Groundwork Collaborative and Ron Knox, Senior Researcher and Writer at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, take us on a riveting journey exposing the story of inflation that most economists don't want to tell.… Read More

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Sean Gonsalves, Senior Reporter and Editor at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. During the converstion, they talk about the value and concrete results of going small and stacking up targeted wins as a path for cities facing less of an appetite for big, bold projects, before digging … Continue reading "Campaigns to Keep Monopolies We Don't Love – Episode 514 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

What can you win if you fail? Minneapolis has a unique story of its path towards clean energy. Although Minneapolis failed to get a public utility on their first significant push, they ultimately made a deal requiring utilities to engage the local government and residents more in their operations. So despite their public power pursuit not achieving all of their aims, what the advocates in Minneapolis gained was increased leverage to push for more clean energy. While Minneapolis' story is unique, it shares some common themes with cities all across the country looking to move to public-owned utilities that provide cleaner energy. This episode previews a new six-part series from the Local Energy Rules podcast that debuts August 17, telling these stories. The series, “The Promise and Perils of Public-Owned Power,” traverses cities' trajectories towards controlling their own power.   What to look forward to: What public power means Four ingredients that improve the odds of success in moving to public-owned power What cities learned and accomplished in their advocacy for public-owned power Other ways cities can leverage their power to address clean energy   “What's so important about the idea of public power is that it localizes the decision making. This is one of those key benefits that we're gonna talk about in this series about what you win if you fail, which is all of a sudden you get engagement from your local elected officials who are really accountable and close to you, you know, like a couple phone calls to a city council member is all it takes to get them to pay attention to an issue. So if we can get cities passionate about renewable energy and caring about renewable energy to address the needs of the community, all of a sudden we have folks that are lot easier to work with.” – John Farrell Related Resources Local Energy Rules Podcast (find “The Promise and Perils of Public-Owned Power on August 17 here) Local Energy Rules Episode on Minneapolis' clean energy partnership The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee (buy at your local bookstore!) Heather McGhee talking about The Sum of Us on NPR, How to Citizen with Baratunde, The Ezra Klein Show, and more! Other energy sources that have alliterated titles: ILSR Asks Arizona Commissioners to Consider Community Solar Implemented Correctly, Community Choice Energy Can Support Colorado Communities in Their Goals Transcript John Farrell: And what's amazing and I think what's so important about the idea of public power is that it localizes the decision making. This is one of those key benefits that we're going to talk about in this series about what you win, if you fail. Reggie Rucker: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance dedicated to challenging corporate monopolies and expanding the power of people to shape their own future. I am Reggie Rucker, one of the hosts on this journey, along with my co-host, Luke Gannon, who frankly, does all the work. I just get to show up and look pretty. Luke? Luke Gannon: Thank you, Reggie. My mom was listening to the most recent episode and she was like, “I really like how Reggie summarizes what the guests say. It's really useful.” So, I wouldn't say that I do all the work. But I'm Luke Gannon, the other co-host. And without further ado, today on the podcast, I am welcoming my colleague and co-director of ILSR, John Farrell. John is also the director of the Energy Democracy Initiative. I am sure you recognize his voice because he has been on here many of times. John and the energy team are releasing a new six part series on public power. So, we welcome him on the show today to find out just exactly what this series is all about, and why you all should be marking your calendars in anticipation of its release. Welcome, John. John Farrell: Well, thank you so much. It's great to be here. Luke Gannon: So John, to start off, can you briefly describe to us what this series is about?...

What does it really mean when people talk about the digital divide? And what power do communities have that find themselves on the wrong side of that divide? Shayna Englin is our guest on this episode of Building Local Power discussing how she approaches these issues as director of the Digital Equity Initiative at the California Community Foundation. Joining Shayna in this episode is ILSR Community Broadband Outreach Team Lead DeAnne Cuellar. Shayna and DeAnne discuss how the digital divide is not isolated as an issue of broadband access, but tied to housing justice, healthcare access, immigration policies, and education. As the pandemic moved everything online, they explained, the whole country experienced how fundamental internet connectivity is to the entire human experience. Highlights include: How the California Community Foundation is using a systems change approach to creating digital equity. Giving decision-makers access to accurate information to invest in local communities. The funding sources and policies that are expanding opportunities for municipalities to come up with local solutions. Creating power and policy frameworks to mobilize communities.   “The digital divide is the gap in access to what is a modern utility. Whether it's access in terms of a subscription or access in terms of devices or access in terms of having apps and utilities, especially from the public sector that are user friendly and meet the needs of the communities they are intended to serve.” – Shayna Englin “The early numbers that came back from the pandemic was that 80% of people over 60 years old were the people who were dying from COVID. 42% of that population didn't have access to the internet. So that's why we talk about the digital divide as a social determinant of health, it's a life or death issue.” – DeAnne Cuellar   Related Resources California Community Foundation Digital Equity Initiative: https://www.calfund.org/digital-equity-initiative/ Community Networks (ILSR's Community Broadband Networks Initiative): https://muninetworks.org/ Transcript Reggie Rucker: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. For more than 45 years, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance or ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. My name is Reggie Rucker and I am the new communications director at ILSR and co-host for Building Local Power. Luke Gannon: And I am Luke Gannon, the other co-host. I am a communications and research associate at ILSR. Today on the podcast I'm welcoming my colleague, DeAnne Cuellar, who works on the outreach team for our community broadband initiative here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Along with DeAnne, I am eager to invite Shayna Englin, the director of the California community foundation, digital equity initiative. The digital equity initiative is a multi-year project that will activate a digital equity movement in Los Angeles county. With the power and capacity to successfully advocate for fast, reliable, and affordable broadband for all people living in Los Angeles. Welcome DeAnne and Shayna. DeAnne: Hello. Thanks for having me. Shayna Englin: Thank you. Luke Gannon: Of course. So, let's get started for all of our dedicated listeners and new listeners on Building Local Power. We are going to break these difficult topics down, like broadband. So today we are talking about the digital divide and the intricacies that fall under that umbrella. So Shayna, I'm going to start with you, and ask what is the digital divide? Shayna Englin: I love that question because we throw that term around a lot. I don't think we ever do a great job at articulating it. So I'll say from the perspective of CCF and the work that we are doing,

This episode marks a new beginning for Building Local Power – Reggie Rucker, Communications Director, and Luke Gannon, Communications and Research Associate are taking a step back to look at our work in a larger context. To kick this transition off we welcomed our colleagues from the composting team Brenda Platt, Director of the Composting for Community Initiative, and Linda Bilsens Brolis, Project Manager for the Composting team. We asked our guests how this rich organic matter, compost, is combating the climate crisis. Highlights include: How composting can reclaim disturbed sites. The consequences of “waste imperialism” on social and environmental structures. How different composting models make the practice more accessible. The necessary paradigm shift within our consumer culture.   “Waste historically has been an environmental justice issue. We're dumping our waste on areas of least political resistance, whether it's the garbage barges on Haiti from the '80s or in our urban areas where trash incinerators get built.” – Brenda Platt   “Whenever you build something you're compressing the soil so a lot of community gardens are actually based in places where things don't readily grow and so you need to import soil. And being able to compost locally just helps reduce input costs because you can help create something that you would otherwise have to buy to help improve your soil to grow.” – Linda Bilsens Brolis   Related Resources ILSR infographic: Compost Combats the Climate Crisis ILSR training: Community Composting 101 Online Certificate Course ILSR web post: Home Composting: Its Time Has Come ILSR report: Stop Trashing the Climate ILSR web post: Waste Disposal Surcharges ILSR web post: Soil Health Policies Project Drawdown (identifies reducing & recycling food waste as a top climate solution) Transcript Reggie Rucker: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought-provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. For more than 45 years, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. You might be thinking, this isn't Jess. It's not. Jess is now leaving communications for the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, we just wanted to say, “Thank you, Jess, for your dedication and integral voice to this podcast.” My name is Reggie Rucker and I'm the new Communications Director at ILSR and co-host for Building Local Power. Now, when I say co-host, that means I have somebody else who needs to introduce themselves. Luke? Luke Gannon: Hi, everyone. My name is Luke Gannon and I am a Communications and Research Associate here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm super excited to be working with Reggie to produce and co-host this podcast. And I would also like to give a shout-out to Jess who was an amazing asset to the ILSR team. Already in this last month, I have missed her immensely but the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center is really lucky to have her. But without further ado, we have a big topic today so let's dive right in. Luke Gannon: Today on the show, we are asking our guests how is composting combating the climate crisis? Right now we are experiencing the glaring implications of climate change firsthand. Last year we saw wildfires rage across the west coast and we are starting to see it again. Warming ocean temperatures are killing off species. Just to name one recent event in the news, both Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park are flooding which is due to extreme weather shifts driven by climate change. So as we can see, the consequences of climate change are devastating. And in order to alter these realities, we must drastically reduce global carbon emissions, and most importantly modify our practices to be more responsive to the world around us. Reggie Rucker:

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by John Farrell and Stacy Mitchell, Co-directors of ILSR, and Ron Knox, a Senior Researcher on our Independent Business team. The group discusses the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission's plan to overhaul their merger guidelines. Highlights include: The history of anti-merger laws in the United States. How the lack of merger regulation has impacted workers, consumers, and our democracy. ILSR's recommendations that detail how we can change merger guidelines. How new merger policy could revitalize local economies. “The Great Depression was in large part, and the stock market crash, driven by the merger and concentration of electric utility holding companies.” – John Farrell “So you allow these mergers to happen and it's like when Spider-Man shoots a whole spider web at a villain. These mergers shoot a whole spider web at the economy, every part of it, and really tamp down the ability for folks to earn a living, start a business, do all these kinds of things.” – Ron Knox “I think our chief recommendation was instead of calling them the merger guidelines, we should call them the anti-merger guidelines in keeping with Congress' intent and being clear about the new direction and policy that at least we're hoping to see.” – Stacy Mitchell Related Resources Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought-provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. Jess Del Fiacco: And hello everybody. Today we are going to talk about merger policy. If you're thinking, “I am not an economic policy wonk. I don't want to hear about merger policy,” don't turn the episode off because it is going to be a great conversation. And I promise it'll be interesting for everybody. Joining me to talk about this are my colleagues, John Farrell and Stacy Mitchell, who are co-directors of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, as well as Ron Knox, who is a senior researcher with our independent business team. Welcome to the show everybody. Ron Knox: Hey, Jess. Thank you. Stacy Mitchell: … be here. Jess Del Fiacco: So I can just give a little bit of a background, I think, before we dive into questions, although I'm sure I won't do as good of a job as everybody else will on this call, but I will do my best. So the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission recently announced that they're going to overhaul their guidelines around mergers. And ILSR has submitted comments, which detail basically how these guidelines should change in order to stop corporate concentration and support a more decentralized economy. So with that kind of context, I think I'm actually going to start with asking Ron and Stacy to talk a little bit about the history of anti-merger legislation in the US and how this enforcement has changed pretty dramatically over the course of the 20th century. Ron Knox: Yeah Jess. Thanks. So there is a lot of history, of course, behind the reason that we look at mergers in this country, the reason we prohibit mergers that would be bad for the economy, for workers, for small business, and for communities, but I think it's important to understand what the result is when we don't do that very well, when we don't stop those mergers. Like I think about beer a lot, not just because I enjoy beer. I do. But I also think about it because it's a great example of how corporate concentration has really gotten out of control in this country and why. So for a long time, we've had two really dominant brewers, right? We have Budweiser,

6.2.2022 Gina Schaefer is founder and CEO of A Few Cool Hardware Stores appeared on Everything Co-op June 2, 2022. Gina shared the strategy of how she and her husband Mark, have used their hardware stores to build and serve communities throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area. Gina Schaefer is founder and CEO of A Few Cool Hardware Stores. Gina's big passion is for developing urban markets, supporting small businesses and helping women to succeed in all aspects of the hardware industry. A self-proclaimed "localist", Gina has tirelessly focused on the "Return to Main Street" movement in the District of Columbia, to promote Shop Local campaigns and community revitalization in urban areas. She and her husband are members of the Ace Hardware Cooperative, and they own and operate 13 hardware stores in DC, Baltimore, Alexandria, VA and Montgomery County. Gina has received numerous accolades for her many accomplishments, including recipient of the Women Who Mean Business award from the Washington Business Journal of 2009, recognized as an industry Top Gun in 2011 by the National Retail Hardware Association, honored by Profiles in Diversity Journal as one of its Women Worth Watching in 2013 and recognized by Hardware and Building Supply Dealer as one of 14 of the 2016 "People of the Year." She also serves on the Corporate Board of CCA Global and the nonprofit board of The Institute for Local Self-Reliance. When her busy schedule allows, Gina likes to relax by making greeting cards (she's a big believer in the power of the written note), kayaking, taking spin classes, traveling, reading and, of course, mentoring other small business owners.

On this episode of the Rise Up podcast, we feature a double interview with 2022 Energy Fair keynote speakers, Bob Blake and John Farrell, hosted by MREA Executive Director Nick Hylla. Bob Blake is the founder and CEO of solar installer, Solar Bear, as well as the executive director of the non-profit, Native Sun Community Power Development. John Farrell is the co-director of the Institute for Local Self Reliance and the director of Energy Democracy Initiative. The final part of this episode features a conversation with Ellen Barlas, the MREA's Solar Workforce Manager. She discusses the clean energy career fair, solar workforce development, and the Midwest Solar Job Resource Center, solarenergy.jobs. Get your tickets to the 2022 Energy Fair being held between June 24, 2022 - June 26, 2022 in Custer, Wisconsin at https://www.theenergyfair.org/. ----------- Show notes: (2:44) - Bob Blake explains the origins of his idea for a tribal EV charging network (7:18) - Public charging and the role of solar (12:14) - How energy project decisions are made in tribal communities (20:45) - The future of autonomous tribal power utilities (31:48) - John Farrell's ideal utility design (39:47) - Bob Blake on overcoming the challenges of creating your own utility (48:08) - Ellen Barlas on what jobs are needed by solar installers (49:20) - Why solar programs are facing enrollment shortages (54:24) - Why MREA launched solarenergy.jobs ----------- Links: The Energy Fair MREA's website Volunteer Opportunities at MREA Midwest Solar Job Resource Center

Stacy Mitchell is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a national research and advocacy organization that fights corporate control and works to build thriving, equitable communities. She directs its initiative to decentralize economic power and level the playing field for independent businesses. She has produced many influential reports and articles, designed local and federal policies, and collaborated to build effective coalitions and campaigns.She addresses the question of “What Could Possibly Go Right?” with thoughts including:The problems of monopoly power by big corporationsThe positives in the current shifts to reign in of corporate powerThe reimagining of what the economy could be and how it could serve usComplete show notes HEREConnect with Stacy MitchellWebsite: www.ilsr.orgWebsite: www.stacymitchell.comTwitter: www.twitter.com/stacyfmitchellInstagram: www.instagram.com/stacyfmitchellFacebook: www.facebook.com/localselfreliance Follow WCPGR/ResilienceFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/buildresilience​Twitter: https://twitter.com/buildresilience​Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildresilienceSupport the show

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, John Farrell, Co-Director of ILSR, is joined by Michael Murray, the President of Mission Data. Mission Data is a national coalition of innovative technology companies that empower consumers to access their own energy usage data. John and Michael discuss how structural market problems prevent consumers from accessing electricity data and possible solutions for utilities to create a more decentralized energy system. Highlights include: How energy usage data plays a critical role in lowering costs for all customers. How monopoly utilities are exploiting smart meter data. The difference between the U.S. and the U.K. in their approach to using electricity data. “The usage data is really the fulcrum of the whole system because that's how the aggregator goes to the wholesale market operator and gets paid for their service and in turn those payments can flow through and part to the consumers who are donating their flexibility and their power usage.”- Michael Murray “We reward utilities for spending money on capital investment, but not for figuring out how to use it well.” – John Farrell “How quickly do utilities acknowledge the existence of a problem and actually resolve it? […] I think it's time for public utility regulators to take up the mantel and really think about themselves as overseers, as a tech support platform – that is an important part of accountability. – Michael Murray Related Resources Drone Data Helps a Minnesota City Conserve Energy How Big Utilities are Impeding Clean Energy, and What We Can Do About It Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought-provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and Communications Manager here at the Institute for Local Self Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. This week, John Farrell, a co-director of ILSR speaks with Michael Murray, the President of the Mission Data Coalition. John and Michael discuss why clean energy advocates should be paying more attention to the value of customer electricity use data and how we can extract this data from the protective claws of monopoly electric utilities. Without further ado, here's John. John Farrell: Michael, welcome. Michael Murray: Thank you, John. I am a big fan of the podcast and very happy to join you today. John Farrell: It was such a pleasure to meet and talk to you earlier this year for the first time, and then to get a chance to read your recent report, Digital Platform Regulation, because it really intersects well with the way that ILSR and other folks across the country are looking at this issue of, who controls the platforms that we do business on and who has access to the information about themselves? Some people might think of this in the context of Facebook, as a Facebook user, this company controls a lot of data about you that you've given them voluntarily, and then sometimes you're trying to figure out like, “Wow, maybe I want to cancel my account or close my account. How do I have access to that data? How can I get back my data?” Or you have Amazon, which uses data about the different sellers on its platform in ways that can enhance its ability to compete or unfairly compete with the independent sellers on its platform. John Farrell: And then we have the utility business, and this is where I was so pleased to come across your work, because I wasn't aware that someone had thought through so carefully, not just this idea of access to customer data as something that might be useful, but you've really thought through it in terms of, what are the structural market structure problems that prevent us from getting access to customer data?

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, Stacy Mitchell, Co-Director of ILSR, is joined by Arlene Martínez, Deputy Executive Director and Communications Director at Good Jobs First. Good Jobs First promotes government accountability in economic development and tracks corporate subsidies. Stacy and Arlene discuss the use of nondisclosure agreements, the acceleration of mega-deals during the pandemic, and what true economic development looks like. Highlights include: How states have used the Care Act and American Rescue Plan funding for economic development. Defining opportunity zones and exposing how the wealthy are profiting from their favorable tax treatment. Revealing how one of the main consequences of subsidy giveaways is exacerbating racial disparities. Why a campaign called Ban Secret Deals is trying to end the use of nondisclosure agreements. “Amazon is eager to use its power to get what it wants.”- Arlene Martínez “For the 4.1 billion that cities gave to Amazon over the last ten years we could have built 672 new locally-owned grocery stores in underserved communities – connected to, say, local farmers and food producers. The scale of this money is extraordinary.” – Stacy Mitchell “The problem with the way that so much of economic development is done in this country, and the ways that these deals are structured, is that the community loses in the end, because the giveaways are so big that tax money that was given will never pay for itself.” – Arlene Martínez Related Resources Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power. A podcast dedicated to thought provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities. Where power, wealth, and accountability, remain in local hands. This week, ILSR Stacy Mitchell talks with Arlene Martínez. Arlene is the deputy executive director and communications director at Good Jobs First. Good Jobs First is an organization that promotes corporate and government accountability, and economic development. As well as smart growth for working families. Stacy and Arlene are going to discuss Amazon's use of public subsidies to advance their growth, the company's tax avoidance and more. Without further ado, I'm going to hand things over to Stacy to lead the interview. Stacy Mitchell: Well, Arlene, it's so great to have you on Building Local Power. Thanks so much for joining us today? Arlene Martínez: Thanks for having me Stacy. Stacy Mitchell: You all, Good Jobs First, your organization just does extraordinary work around the problem of corporate subsidies. These giveaways that happen across the country to big corporations. Tell us a little about what these corporate subsidies are all about? And maybe give a couple of recent examples of some of the kinds of bad deals that you're tracking and why you see them as harmful? Arlene Martínez: Yeah. Corporate subsidies are when a corporation comes to a community and wants to bring a facility, a project, and they always promise a lot of jobs. They ask for public money to help [inaudible 00:01:44] the cost of the project. They come and they say they're going to bring a lot of capital investment. They say they're going to bring a lot of jobs and officials get excited and start opening up their wallets. The problem with some of these deals is that, first of all, it's done out of public view. Sometimes the community doesn't know the company name, don't know how much money's being offered. That's the case even after the deal's closed. In some states, we never know how much money the company got. A recent deal that just happened, first when you asked that question came to mind, was [inaudible 00:02:24].

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, we share highlights from a recent ILSR event called “The Progressive Fight for Small Business” featuring Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and White House Advisor Tim Wu. Rep. Jayapal talks about the intersectionality between small business, health care, minimum wage, and racial inequity. Wu discusses how we need to relearn the virtues of a true American economy and how consolidation and the rise of a middleman are two of the biggest problems we face today. Highlights include: How the Paycheck Recovery Act would help small businesses if it is reintroduced. The effects of Biden's Executive Order and how the Competition Council are working towards a more equitable economy. How the economic principles that our nation subscribed to 40 years ago were not interested in maintaining a diverse set of businesses. Why it is critical for small businesses to thrive. “We have a real opportunity to use the bipartisan momentum to prevent dominant companies from maintaining market power and using their extensive resources to stifle independent and small competitors from entering the market and also to think about our communities in a holistic way and I think that is what small businesses do particularly well.” – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal “Our country has become too centralized, too national, too centered on consumption as opposed to production, and too many of the returns go to too few people. ” – Tim Wu Related Resources Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought-provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth and accountability remain in local hands. Jess Del Fiacco: For today's episode, we're bringing you highlights from a recent event that we put on. The event is all about the momentum that is building in Congress within the Biden administration and within many state houses to reign in monopoly power and level the playing field for small, independent businesses. You'll hear from Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who's the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Tim Wu, who is a special assistant to the president for Technology and Competition Policy. This event was called the Progressive Fight for Small Business, and if you're interested in watching the whole recording, you can find that and related resources archived on archive.ilsr.org. Jess Del Fiacco: With that, I'll let you listen to the show. Stacy Mitchell: I'm Stacy Mitchell. I'm the co-director of ILSR, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. More than a decade ago, I helped launch an initiative here at ILSR focused on independent business. We were, and continue to be, deeply concerned about the sharp decline in small, independent businesses that we've seen across virtually every sector of the economy. Back at that time, there were very few political leaders on either side of the aisle who had much concern about this trend. The widespread assumption at that time was that small business didn't matter much, the bigger corporations were better, more efficient, more productive, and so on. Stacy Mitchell: Today, we know that economic concentration and the losses that we've seen, both for working people and for small businesses, have had devastating effects on communities, that the decline of small business and the growing concentration across our economy is really driving racial and economic inequality, and ultimately undermining our democracy. We know that the primary driver of this trend is concentrated corporate power, whether it's the power that these corporations wield in the market or the political power that they have to rig gover...

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by her colleague John Farrell, director of ILSR's Energy Democracy Initiative, and guest Ari Peskoe, who is the director of the Energy Law Initiative at Harvard Law School. They discuss the attempts Congress has made to increase competition in electric utilities, the four orders the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled between 1996 and 2011, and the how the lack of competitive processes negatively impacts consumers. Highlights include: The reasons why Congress passed the Public Utility Act and its impacts on the concentration of economic and political power. The FERC recognizing that the single greatest impediment to competition is Investor Owned Utilities. How the conviction “bigger is better” impacted the electric utility sector for nearly a hundred years. Whether Peskoe's recommendations to the FERC; independent planning, information transparency, and burden of proof on the utility to show that costs are reasonable will be considered moving forward. “I worry about innovation in this space. It is a hallmark of the capitalist system that competition brings innovation. When we have an industry like the transmission sector here that is dominated by the century old incumbents who for decades have been planning among themselves without any competitive pressure I wonder if that is a system that can yield the benefits that I think we get from innovation.” – Ari Peskoe “The transmission system is so novel in a way of being so balkanized and so controlled by the incumbents.” – John Farrell Related Resources Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build driving equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability are made in local hands. Jess Del Fiacco: Welcome to today's episode. I'm actually going to hand over hosting duties to ILSR's John Farrell today. John is a co-director of ILSR and he directs our energy democracy work. John is joined by his guest, Ari Peskoe, who is the Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School. They're going to talk about how utilities have gained outside market power by owning energy infrastructure and how federal regulators could reintroduce competition through targeted regulation. With that, I'm going to hand things over to John. John Farrell: If you've heard of transmission lines in the context of clean energy, it's probably a complaint about not in my backyard, or NIMBY, opposition to the large steel towers and wires that carry electricity long distances. However, utilities themselves have as much to do with the barriers to expanding the electricity grid. Like with rooftop solar, the exercise of monopoly power has much to do with the problem. Ari Peskoe is the Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program, and author of a new paper, Is the Utility Transmission Syndicate Forever? John Farrell: He joined me in December, 2021 to talk about the battle to overcome monopoly, utility opposition, to making transmission line planning and construction more competitive and more cost effective. I'm John Farrell, Director of the Energy Democracy Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Ari, thank you so much for joining me on Building Local Power. Ari Peskoe: Thanks for having me. John Farrell: I feel like this is a really timely conversation with the passage of the federal infrastructure bill, which does include money for high voltage electricity transmission lines. There might be other ordinary folks who would be curious since John O...

Ted Tatos is Managing Director of EconOne and co-author of the recent report, “Protecting the U.S. Postal Service from Amazon's Anticompetitive Assault.” In the conversation, we get into a lot of different aspects of Amazon's ongoing effort to dominate the postal service. A quick note: Ted's report was funded by a conservative group called The Family Business Coalition, which includes small family-owned businesses that ship parcels. For the report, Ted also interviewed a couple of prominent voices in the antimonopoly movement whom we've had on the show before—Matt Stoller from the American economic liberties project and Stacy Mitchell from the Institute for Local Self Reliance.

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by her colleague Brenda Platt who leads ILSR's Community Composting Initiative and guests Sarah Boltwala-Mesina, Monique Figueiredo, and Kourtnii Brown. Sarah is the Executive Director of Inika Small Earth Inc., which operates Food2Soil, a community composting collective in San Diego; Monique is the founder of Compostable LA, a food scrap collector in Los Angeles; and Kourtnii Brown is the co-founder and CEO of the California Alliance for Community Composting and runs Common Compost, a community composting operation in Oakland. They discuss solid waste franchise districts, which are waste collection zones that a municipality or county has assigned to one or more contractors on an exclusive basis to provide collection services for trash and recycling. As the system typically only allows large companies to compete to win a zone, smaller competitors are kept out of the playing field. Highlights include: How franchise districts have impacted community composters' operations, and the creative ways some have navigated the agreements in order to build successful businesses. The difference between a non-exclusive franchise and an exclusive franchise and how they impact communities. How local leaders have responded to the issues facing small-sized composters. How cities could change contracts to better support small-sized composting and recycling operations (such as through carve outs) and help them grow. “It's not an us or them. It is an us and them. The more we can have our human based systems mimic our ecosystems, the more no one is left behind. ” – Monique Figueiredo “As community composters who want to focus on turning these scraps into soil that rejuvenates our landscape, we have to deal with regulations, attorneys… We are not made for that. We don't have the deep pockets for that.” – Sarah Boltwala-Mesina “A lot of the attraction to an exclusive franchise agreement is because these cities have put a lot of work into establishing their zero-waste goals and their diversion targets. It is very attractive for cities to look for large scale service providers and that are capable of implementing large scale collection programs.” – Kourtnii Brown   Related Resources Mallory Szczepanski, Waste360, Commercial Franchise Zones Explained, January 25, 2017. New York City Department of Sanitation, Commercial Waste Zones: A Plan to Reform, Reroute, and Revitalize Private Carting in New York City, 2018. LA County Residential Franchise System Greggory Moore, Random Lengths News, Hauling Green Waste for Compost Is a Legal Gray Area in Long Beach, October 10, 2020 Palm Springs Sustainability Commission's Standing Subcommittee on Waste Reduction Meeting, July 1, 2021 The Sustainable Economies Law Center's Soil Policy Party Curriculum and Legal Guide to Community Composting (with examples from Alameda County) CalRecycle's Model Franchise Agreement and Webinar (Scope of Contract terms starting at min 34) ILSR's Hierarchy to Reduce Food Waste & Grow Community Food2Soil's Model Franchise Agreement and Model Solid Waste Ordinance enhanced for community composting. Food2Soil's story of Temecula, California's first community compost pile. Food2Soil's The Supermaze of Regulations Preventing Community Composting. Transcript Jess: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought-provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies, and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power, and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities, where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. Hello, everybody. Today, we're going to be discussing the challenges solid waste franchise agreements pose to community composters.

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by her colleagues on the broadband team, DeAnne Cuellar who leads our community broadband outreach work, and Sean Gonsalves who is a senior reporter and editor. They discuss where the bulk of the broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is geared toward and how to engage local champions to create community broadband strategies. Highlights include: How states will be impacted by the fact that cooperatives, nonprofits, public utilities, and local governments are eligible to use Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds to build networks. Which states are well-poised to submit a five year strategic plan before accessing the broadband money and which states are not. How digital equity organizing efforts in LA County are a perfect example of a willingness to collaborate, design community solutions, and be community-driven in terms of building better broadband infrastructure. Why having access to telehealth and remote learning are human rights.   “The bill largely targets rural America, which is sort of unfortunate, because it feeds into this idea that the digital divide is between urban and rural America, which isn't the case. A digital divide exists within any locale that you are in.” – Sean Gonsalves “As advocates of digital inclusion… and building community broadband networks, we see connectivity as critical infrastructure, life-saving critical infrastructure.” – DeAnne Cuellar   Related Resources Infrastructure Bill Passes: ‘Our Broadband Moment' MuniNetworks.org Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought-provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. Jess Del Fiacco: I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build driving equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. Jess Del Fiacco: And hello, everybody. Welcome to our show today. I'm joined by my colleagues, DeAnne Cuellar who leads our community broadband outreach work and Sean Gonsalves who is a senior reporter and editor on our broadband team. We're going to talk about a few different things today, but well, first of all, welcome to the show. Let's start there. Sean Gonsalves: All right. CBN is in the building or buildings. DeAnne Cuellar: Hi. Jess Del Fiacco: Hi, and we have, it's DeAnne's debut for Building Local Power, so it's always a special episode. DeAnne Cuellar: Hello. Thanks for having me. Jess Del Fiacco: So happy to have you guys on the show. And with that, let's dive into some questions for Sean. So last fall, I believe Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act so Sean, could you talk about that as it relates to the broadband world? Maybe we can start with just a general description of what's in this bill. Sean Gonsalves: Good question. Good question because there's different pots of money that are floating out of there, floating from the federal government to states and so this shouldn't be confused with the American Rescue Plan money, which has already made its way to state coffers and the difference really between the money that's available in the American Rescue plan and the money that is going to be available once it makes its way to the states in the infrastructure bill is that the American Rescue Plan money is a lot more flexible, which is important. Sean Gonsalves: So the money that goes to the states and local communities, it gives a lot of wiggle room, the spending rules. There's a lot of wiggle room on how you can spend those funds, which includes the ability of local communities to define what's considered affordable and reliable and use that to justify deploying networks or initiat...

On this episode of Building Local Power, we share a recording of ILSR's recent event Democratizing Power: New Citizen Initiatives Challenge Monopoly Electric Utilities. Across the country, powerful utilities are actively blocking decentralized solar energy, degrading the reliability of the power lines even as they raise prices, and failing to make the grid investments needed for a clean, carbon-free future. Listen to ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and John Farrell facilitate conversations with the advocates who are leading the movement to take back control from electric utility monopolies. Highlights of the event's discussions include: Rep. Seth Berry and Sen. Rick Bennett of the Maine State Legislature discuss Our Power, a citizen-led ballot campaign in Maine that aims to convert the utility serving most of the state to a consumer-owned electric company, allowing for competition and innovation on a public grid system. Jean Su, Energy Justice Director at the Center for Biological Diversity, explains how advocates in Arizona are using antitrust and anti-monopoly laws to fight a big utility's plans to crush customer-owned rooftop solar power. Mariel Nanasi, Executive Director of New Energy Economy in New Mexico, tells the story behind a recent and highly unusual rejection of a proposed utility merger in New Mexico, brought about by grassroots advocacy effort. “Clean electricity is how we get out of the climate emergency. And all of that needs to flow over the poles and wires. Those poles and wires are a monopoly. And because of the last 150 years or so of the evolution of that industry, we have allowed it without really thinking about it. Without really noticing, we've allowed it to globalize, we've allowed it to conglomerate. We've allowed it to be the province of the few in order to extract value from the many. And so this is about power. It is about money. It's also very much about climate. If we're going to decarbonize, we know that we need to shift to consumer ownership because it works.”     Related Resources Democratizing Power: New Citizen Initiatives Challenge Monopoly Electric Utilities The Role of Antitrust Law in Creating Energy Justice — Episode 127 of Building Local Power Mainers Consider Putting Electricity, Internet in Local Hands — Episode 103 of Building Local Power In Santa Fe, Momentum Builds for Locals to Take Charge of Electricity System – Episode 39 of Local Energy Rules Podcast A David and Goliath Fight to Tap World Class Solar – Episode 14 of Local Energy Rules Podcast Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello. Welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought-provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. Hello, today we have something slightly different for you. Last week, ILSR hosted an event called Democratizing the Grid. And at that event ILSR Co-directors, John Farrell and Stacy Mitchell were joined by Representative Seth Berry and Senator Rick Bennett of Maine, as well as Mariel Nanasi of New Energy Economy in New Mexico, and Jean Su of the Center for Biological Diversity. This group discussed the people-powered movements around the country that are taking on the electric utility monopolies with the aim of accelerating the shift to clean energy and winning democratic community control. We're going to share a recording of that conversation with you today. So without further ado, here's ILRS's Stacy Mitchell. Stacy Mitchell: Hello everyone. Welcome today. My name is Stacy Mitchell. I'm the co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and I'm super excited about today's event. I'm excited to welcome all of you.

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by John Farrell, ILSR Co-Director, and Ron Knox, Senior Researcher with ILSR's Independent Business initiative. They take a look back at ILSR's work in 2021 and share big wins, challenges, and interesting trends from the year. Highlights of their conversation include: ILSR's influence at the federal level, including our 30 Million Solar Homes campaign; our research and organizing around Congressional action to reign in the power of Big Tech; and our role in the development of the COMPOST Act. Progress at the local level, including several legislative wins in Maryland to advance composting, the launch of a New York coalition to hold powerful corporations accountable, and more. How ILSR's impact has grown in recent years. Looking ahead to what 2022 might bring.   “We're seeing some really encouraging signs that things are being taken seriously around the idea of monopoly and market power. Especially at this moment, we have so many awesome ways that we can generate energy and supply services to our electricity system in a way that's cleaner, that can employ people who've been left behind, that can lower their energy bills. You name it.”   “Lawmakers have really started to listen and have really started to understand that this consolidation that's gone on over the past several decades, half century let's say has hurt the economy. And that in order to undo some of the bad policies and the bad legal precedents that have created this issue, the laws themselves ultimately need to change.”   Related Resources ILSR's 2021 Annual Report ILSR 2021: A Year of Building Local Power 4 New Maryland Laws to Spur Local Composting Statement on the House Judiciary Committee's Vote Approving Legislation to Break Up and Rein In Big Tech Fact Sheet: How Amazon Exploits and Undermines Small Businesses, and Why Breaking It Up Would Revive American Entrepreneurship Small Business Rising Rep. Seth Berry on the Movement for Publicly-Owned Power in Maine — Episode 132 of Building Local Power Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought provoking conversations about how we can challenge perfect monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. Jess Del Fiacco: And hi everybody. I am joined today by my colleagues Ron Knox who's a senior researcher with our Independent Business Initiative, as well as John Farrell who directs our Energy Democracy work and is one of ILSR's co-directors. Our other colleague Brenda Platt was going to join us, but she's unfortunately sick. So I am going to be sharing some highlights from our composting team as well as we go through things here. So welcome to the show, Ron and John. Ron Knox: Hey Jess. Good to be here. Thanks. John Farrell: You know, if you welcome us together, it's Ron John. And then we're just a surf shop instead of policy- Ron Knox: Just a Tampa area surf shop. Nothing more. [crosstalk 00:01:09] which is a good, strong, Independent Business by the way, Tampa area surf shop. Jess Del Fiacco: This is also our very last Building Local Power episode of 2021. So that's why we're celebrating it with the Hawaiian shirts. Ron Knox: Right. John Farrell: It's amazing how comfortable this Hawaiian shirt is in my cold basement in Minnesota. Jess Del Fiacco: So we're going to talk about some highlights from our work this year. And I wanted to start by, I'm looking at some of the work that we did at the federal level, which may not be the first thing you think of when you hear the name the Institute for Local Self-Reliance is us working at the federal level,

On this episode of the Building Local Power podcast, ILSR Co-Director John Farrell speaks with Luis Reyes, General Manager of the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in New Mexico. John and Luis discuss the many benefits of distributing solar power through the community and Kit Carson's plan to provide members 100% of their daytime electricity from local solar projects. Highlights include: How rural electric co-ops are adapting to new challenges and expectations after serving rural areas for more than 100 years. Why, due to contracts with coal plants, Generation and Transmission cooperatives (G&Ts) often hold back distribution cooperatives like Kit Carson from generating much of their energy locally. How Kit Carson connects members to high quality Internet access — and how they rose to the challenge of distance learning by connecting schools and Internet hotspots at no cost. How co-op members are shaping future renewable energy projects.   “I continue to see the co-ops in the forefront of this new energy world we're facing, and we're probably the best equipped to address it. I think that's positive for the co-op nation.” “We have to get out of these scare tactics and, and say, the sun doesn't shine at night, so let's put some batteries. Or let's get wind that follows that nighttime profile. And instead of us as co-ops and utilities making excuses why we can't, we should figure how we can.”   Related Resources Read ILSR's updated report on How Cooperatives Are Bridging the Digital Divide. Listen to our 2018 Local Energy Rules episode featuring Luis Reyes and Warren McKenna of Farmers Electric Cooperative. Read more about Kit Carson's clean energy and broadband Internet programs. Read our 2014 report on rural electric cooperatives: Re-member-ing the Electric Cooperative. Listen to episode 139 of Local Energy Rules, detailing how a Colorado Law Creates Transparency at Rural Electric Co-ops. Check out the New Economy Coalition's Rural Electric Cooperative Toolkit or listen to our Local Energy Rules episode featuring two of its creators. For concrete examples of how towns and cities can take action toward gaining more control over their clean energy future, explore ILSR's Community Power Toolkit. Explore local and state policies and programs that help advance clean energy goals across the country, using ILSR's interactive Community Power Map. Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the Host of Building Local Power and Communications Manager here the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. Jess Del Fiacco: Today you're going to hear from ILSR Co-director, John Farrell, who is joined by Luis Reyes, who is the general manager of Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in New Mexico. Starting in 2022, Taos, New Mexico and surrounding communities will receive 100% of their daytime electricity from local solar projects. Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, which is the utility that serves that area, is also connecting everyone of its 30,000 members to high speed affordable internet service. You'll hear John and Luis discuss the advantages of self-reliance in rural communities and how Kit Carson's progress has been driven by member engagement. With that, onto the show. John Farrell: Without further ado, Luis, welcome. Luis Reyes: Yeah, thanks John, it's nice to talk to you again. John Farrell: Now, your cooperative has gotten in the news for all sorts of reasons around clean energy, but one of the things I think most people don't realize is that you've really been at the helm at Kit Carson for a long time. I looked up in your bio and I think you've been there now for over 25 years.

On this episode of Building Local Power, ILSR's Linda Bilsens Brolis and Sophia Hosain speak with Emma Jagoz, owner of Moon Valley Farm in Maryland. They discuss the benefits of local family farms to food system resilience, food accessibility, and having more nutritious and delicious food. Highlights include: What motivated Emma to get into farming, and her long-term mission to improve soil health and the biodiversity of farms. How Moon Valley Farm uses compost to build healthy soils. How the pandemic impacted farm operations and increased the public's interest in local food. Challenges small farmers face such as land access, labor, and the lack of sustainable agriculture training programs. The importance of farming year-round and partnering with other farmers to build a sustainable and robust food system. Regenerative agriculture practices are rooted in Indigenous knowledge and practices. Read ILSR's land acknowledgement here. “I wanted to shorten the chain between myself, my neighbors, and their food. Because it just connects the farmer and the consumers so directly. And I can communicate with my customers exactly what's in season, exactly how to prepare it. It just felt so magical.” “I think COVID brought to light a lot of different issues, especially with the food supply and what is considered essential. Our community members were able to access food through our farm via home delivery, and also pick-up locations with some new COVID safe practices throughout the whole time — from when COVID began in March in 2020 to today.”     Related Resources Posters: Compost Impacts More Than You Think Hierarchy to Reduce Food Waste & Grow Community ILSR's On-Farm Composting & Compost Use Webinar Series Journey to Soil Health… with Emma Jagoz, Moon Valley Farm Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies, and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. Jess Del Fiacco: On today's episode. You're going to hear from my colleagues Sophia Hussein, and Linda Bilsens Brolis, as well as a farmer named Emma Jagoz. They're going to discuss the role of composting in farming and in our food system. But before we get to that main conversation though, Sophia and I are going to briefly set the table for you guys. So I'm here with Sophia Hussein. Hey Sophia, welcome. Sophia Hosain: Hi everyone. Jess Del Fiacco: But a few minutes, our listeners are going to hear from Emma about her farm, which is called Moon Valley Farm, and her journey that she took to feed her family and feed her community. So Sophia, could you just give us a bird's eye view of the role of composting in a sustainable food system? Sophia Hosain: Absolutely! I think it's really fitting that we're publishing this episode around Thanksgiving. A day when many of us are thinking about food, abundance, and gratitude even more so than usual. So in this interview, we talk with Emma from Moon Valley Farm, about how she's created a resilient farm ecosystem by harnessing biodiversity, partnering with other farmers and by using compost. And I think it's important to note that as our population grows, so does the importance of supporting local food systems. Sophia Hosain: By avoiding those long shipping distances, like bringing food over from California. We're able to cut the carbon footprint of what we eat, and build local food system resiliency by keeping those resources in our own local economy. And before we dive in, I do want to take a moment to acknowledge that it is indigenous communities who really spearheaded the regenerative agricultural movement.

On this episode of the Building Local Power podcast, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by two members of ILSR's Community Broadband Networks initiative: Sean Gonsalves and Emma Gautier. They discuss new research the team has been working on, including tracking how communities are spending federal infrastructure money on broadband projects and explaining why shopping for a new Internet service is such a frustrating process. Highlights of their conversation include: Why and how ILSR decided to create a “Big List” of local broadband projects supported by American Rescue Plan funding — which now includes more than 100 communities! How states compare when it comes to spending on community broadband projects. Interesting local election results related to broadband issues in New Jersey, Maine, and elsewhere. ILSR's new report that grades Internet Service Providers' (ISPs) transparency — or lack thereof — around the Internet service packages they offer. “This problem, providers not being transparent, might kind of seem like something that's annoying or inconvenient, but it's actually a really big problem beyond that because we know, especially in the context of the pandemic, that broadband is a very important thing to a household. So a household or a person's ability to make informed decisions about what kind of service they're going to subscribe to is really important.” “When a community network is built and operated and maintained by the people in your community, that in and of itself brings a level of accountability that is unmatched. You're bumping into those people in the grocery store. Your kids play sports together… And one of the things that is tough to quantify, but I hear anecdotally all the time in talking to folks in various communities, is the difference between before they had a municipal network and they had to rely on the monopoly provider, and then after they got one is the difference in the customer service experience. And that is hard to quantify, but it's something that's huge for people.”   Related Resources Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at The Institute for Local Self Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, everybody. Today I am joined by two of my colleagues, both from ILSR's community broadband initiative. We've got Sean Gonsalves, you've heard on the show before, he's a reporter and editor with the team, as well as a newbie to Building Local Power, it's Emma Gotye, and she is on the community broadband team. Welcome to the show, guys. Sean Gonsalves: Top of the morning. How are you doing? Emma Gautier : Good to be here. Thanks, Jess. Jess Del Fiacco: Yeah. As you all might expect, we're going to be talking about community broadband today. And per usual, there's a lot going on. We're going to talk about how communities are using new federal funding. We're also going to take a look at a new scorecard we've put together that grades different internet service providers based on how transparent they are about the services that they offer. But we're going to start with a question for Sean, which is something the whole team's been working on, but I know you've done a lot of work on this specifically. Looking at what communities are doing with American Rescue Plan funding to invest that in community broadband projects. Basically first, why'd you guys decide to track this information? Sean Gonsalves: Yeah, no. That's a great question. I mean, we're tracking it because the American Rescue Plan funding is really an unprecedented massive federal investment being made available.

In this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco and Director of ILSR's Community Composting initiative Brenda Platt are joined by Jacob Hannah, Conservation Director at Coalfield Development. Coalfield Development works across many sectors — solar energy, agriculture, manufacturing, deconstruction, reuse, and more — as it pursues its mission of rebuilding the Appalachian economy. Highlights of their discussion include: The requirements of a just economic transition for the region. Coalfield Development's impact on the region — hundreds of new jobs, dozens of new businesses — and the diverse economic enterprises they are supporting. The important role of partnerships and community engagement in their work. Why replacing the coal-centric economy with diverse, community-led solutions is key to sustainable success in the region. “A lot of times there's a false narrative that for a just transition, everything that was a brown economy has to be replaced by a green energy economy. And that's not always the case. There's never going to be one silver bullet that replaces all of what coal used to be. And so that's what we're trying to make sure that we iterate in the diversity of our options right now, whether it's agriculture, woodworking, entrepreneurship, solar, manufacturing, we want to have a large toolbox of opportunities for folks in the region. And so that just transition for us looks very different from, let's say, the European model where it's a very top-down approach, where the government owns the coal mine and say, phases it out.”   Related Resources How The ReUse Corridor is Creating Wealth From Waste in Appalachia Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. Today, I'm joined by my colleague, Brenda Platt who directs ILSR's Community Composting Initiative. And we're going to be talking about zero waste moving away from a coal focused economy and local economic development with Jacob Hannah. Who's the conservation director at Coalfield Development, organization that is rebuilding the Appalachian economy from the ground up. So welcome to the show, Jacob and Brenda. Brenda Platt: Hello. Jacob Hannah: Thanks for having me. Jess Del Fiacco: And I think to get us started, Jacob, could you just give us a very brief overview of what Coalfield Development is and what's the meaning behind the name? Jacob Hannah: Sure. So Coalfield Development is a nonprofit organization here in West Virginia. We cover about five counties and the name is a clue to not only the region, but the focus this region has historically been very, not only dependent, but productive for coal generation and coal consumption. So essentially it was a mono economy built around serving that one industry. So all the towns were built around the coal mines, all the roads and trains and infrastructure built to serve this economy. And so now that that industry has gone into decline. We have this massive power vacuum in it's place. And so how do we address that in a way that is a just transition to new and diverse economies that doesn't leave people behind like what we're seeing right now with the opioid epidemic, massive rates of unemployment, lots of folks leaving the state and lots of health issues as well. Jacob Hannah: So how can we tackle those factors by offering folks some re-skilling opportunities, new economic employment opportunities, training, education, and also of course, diversified portfolio of different opportunities for folks to choose from. We are a nonprofit,

In this episode of Building Local Power, ILSR Co-Director John Farrell is joined by Chris Villarreal, President of Plugged In Strategies and an Associate Fellow with the R Street Institute. Their discussion focuses on monopoly power in the energy sector, and how lack of competition impacts consumers and stands in the way of progress. Highlights of their conversation include: What's behind growing interest in public takeovers of electric utilities. Why electricity markets were originally designed as monopolies and why that structure doesn't fit the way energy use and production has evolved. How utilities use their monopoly power to shape regulation and limit competition. Rethinking utilities and the energy distribution system in order to incentivize competition.   “What I'm hopeful for, and what we're seeing, is that with the growth of distributed resources like rooftop solar, community, solar and the like, is that consumers, you and I, have more options now available to us if we so choose. We don't need to rely 100% on the utility to provide us electricity. We have abilities now to put solar on our roof or participate in a community solar garden project, which introduces competition, which is good because now it should be imparting cost pressure onto the company.” “Just because it's public doesn't mean it's going to be run well. Just because it's private doesn't mean it's going to be run poorly. It really all is in the rules.”   Related Resources How Big Utilities Are Impeding Clean Energy, and What We Can Do About It Is Energy Still a “Natural Monopoly”? Spreading Like Wildfire: An Interest in Making Electric Power Public The Role of Antitrust Law in Creating Energy Justice Why Utilities in Minnesota and Other States Need to Plan for More Competition Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought-provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving equitable communities where power, wealth and accountability remain in local hands. This week, I'm actually handing things over to ILSR codirector, John Farrell. He also directs our energy program here at ILSR. And he's going to be joined by Chris Villarreal, who is the president of Plugged In Strategies and a fellow with the R Street Institute. Jess Del Fiacco: They're going to discuss the structure of the energy market which is a sector you'll hear John refer to as a hidden in plain sight monopoly in a few minutes. With that, I'm going to let you go on to the show. John Farrell: Welcome to another edition of Building Local Power, a podcast hosted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm John Farrell, the director of the Energy Democracy Initiative and one of ILSR's two codirectors. And today, I'm really excited to be joined by Chris Villarreal. He's the president of Plugged In Strategies. He's a fellow with the R Street Institute, a think tank that promotes free markets and limited effective government. He's got experience at two different state public utilities commissions, so he knows a great deal about what we're going to talk about which is the market structure and the market sector, the electricity market. John Farrell: If you follow him on Twitter in addition to excellent information about energy, you will also find out that he is a Baylor University grad, a Kansas City Chiefs fan and many other things. Chris, thanks so much for joining me on Building Local Power. Chris Villarreal: Thanks, John, for having me. John Farrell: So I feel like I need to start off with knowing that our audience cares about issues, about monopoly and concentration by just saying that the electricity sector is almost like this hidden in plain sight monopoly,

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco and ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell interview Chuck Marohn, President of Strong Towns. Chuck is also the author of the new book Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town, which explores what conventional transportation planning is costing our communities. Highlights of the conversation include: How Chuck's background in engineering and planning informed the book. How conventional transportation planning values disregard the complexity of human behavior and end up negatively impacting safety, economic growth, and community. How flawed transportation policy allowed big box retailers and chains to take over communities and why good street design could revive Main Street. Streets, roads, and “stroads” — and the key design decisions that can help communities flourish. The small steps city leaders can take to start rethinking transportation policy.   “The idea of roads and streets is really to put the focus back on what are we trying to accomplish with our transportation system. On a road we're trying to move people quickly between two places. On a street, we're trying to create wealth. We're trying to create a place. We're trying to create someplace that people want to be, a productive place where we can live, have economics, have commerce, have entertainment, have high quality of life. A street is not conducive to fast throughput and a road is not conducive to development to things that slow things down.” “Congestion is actually our greatest ally if we want to build great places, if we want to build local economies, it will actually drive the outcomes we want to see. And so the best places in America, the places that have I think the best economics, the best local small business options, are all places where you have overwhelming levels of congestion combined with… a more flexible development framework where people can actually then respond to these local needs by building stuff, to serve their neighbors.”   Learn more about Confessions of a Recovering Engineer and check out free resources here.   Related Resources Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power. A podcast dedicated to thought provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm [Jess 00:00:18] Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Jess Del Fiacco: For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. And welcome to today's show. I'm here with my colleague, Stacy Mitchell, who is one of ILSR co-directors. And we are joined by Chuck Mahron, who is the president of Small Towns. Small Towns is an organization that is rethinking how we build our communities. And Chuck is the author of a new book called Confessions of a Recovering Engineer:Transportation for a Strong Town. Chuck, welcome to the show. We're very happy to have you. Chuck Marohn: Hey, thank you. It's really nice to be here. I love the work that you all do and it's exciting to be able to chat. Stacy: We're such big fans of Strong Towns too. So it's awesome to have you. Chuck Marohn: Yeah. Thank you. I know we have so much in common and so much overlap and I really appreciated like everything that you guys have put out since I've become aware of the work you're doing. So yeah, this might be a love Fest for a while, but that's fine. That's fine. We can mutually admire each other. Jess Del Fiacco: So to get us started, I just wanted to ask, and if you got a little bit about your background, I mean, you were trained as a transportation engineer and this book is essentially your confession, you are criticizing your critique of the whole profession. What's that all about? Chuck Marohn: Yeah, well,

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Neil Seldman, Director of ILSR's Waste to Wealth initiative. Jess and Neil interview Gary Liss, Vice President of Zero Waste USA, and Bob Gedert, President of the National Recycling Coalition, about the Recycling Is Infrastructure Too (RIIT) campaign and the proposed American Recycling Infrastructure Plan (ARIP). Highlights of their conversation include: Why now is the right moment for investing in recycling infrastructure, and how this could reshape American recycling. The current landscape of federal legislation and how the RIIT campaign is influencing policy decisions and rulemaking. Key provisions in the proposed American Recycling Infrastructure Plan and how each of them move the recycling needle forward in the US. How the ARIP would help level the playing field for small-scale reuse and recycling enterprises.   “Zero waste is all about not only diverting tons, but reinvesting those resources in the community. And the American Recycling Infrastructure Plan is based on that idea: that we should not only invest in recycling and composting, but also in those other activities upstream, to redesign the systems and to set up reuse programs and reuse facilities, and help with innovations like fix-it clinics, and repair fairs, and other new reuse systems for reusable foodware that are being pioneered all over the country… We're not just investing in diversion from landfills and incinerators. We're investing and reinvesting those resources in the local economy.”   Join the next Recycling Is Infrastructure Too Webinar, “What's IN the Infrastructure Bills for Recycling?” on September 28th! Learn more and register here. Related Resources How Recycling and Reuse Created Thousands of Jobs and a $1 Billion Boost to Austin's Economy — Episode 120 of Building Local Power American Recycling Infrastructure Plan Letter to Biden-Harris Administration: Recycling is Infrastructure Too Transcript Jess Del Fiacco: Hello, and welcome to Building Local Power, a podcast dedicated to thought provoking conversations about how we can challenge corporate monopolies, and expand the power of people to shape their own future. I'm Jess Del Fiacco, the host of Building Local Power and communications manager here at the Institute for Local Self Reliance. For more than 45 years, ILSR has worked to build thriving, equitable communities, where power, wealth, and accountability remain in local hands. Welcome to the show. Today, I am joined by Neil Seldman, who is the director of ILSR's Waste to Wealth program, as well as Gary Liss, who is the vice-president of Zero Waste USA, and Bob Gedert, who is the president of the National Recycling Coalition. So welcome to the show, all of you. Neil Seldman: Thank you. Gary Liss: Thank you. Bob Gedert: Thank you very much. Jess Del Fiacco: Yeah, we are so happy to have you. We're going to talk about the Recycling is Infrastructure Too campaign, which Neil, Gary and Bob are all involved with, as well as the proposed American Recycling Infrastructure Plan. And I think Neil, I will give it to you to maybe give us a little bit more context before we get going with questions, so. Neil Seldman: Thank you, Jess. And thank you, Gary and Bob for joining us. I want to point out that Gary and Bob have each put in decades upon decades of work on recycling, zero waste, and it's been a pleasure working with them from the point of view of the Institute for Local Self Reliance. We've done many projects and many good discussions together. This is a very nice occasion for myself. We're addressing recycling in the middle of a lot of dynamic change in the country, in the recycling and wasting fields. And we're hoping to clarify some of those. Neil Seldman: I just want to point out that the key, in my opinion, to the next few years is getting money, investment capital, to the local governments for the necessary infrastructure changes for compostin...