Local Power (formerly at local.org) produced San Francisco's 2007 Community Choice Program Design, Draft Implementation Plan and H Bond Action Plan (Ordinance 447-07, Mirkarimi/Ammiano/Daly), 2004 Energy Independence Ordinance (Ordinance 86-04, Ammiano), California's 2002 Community Choice of Electricity Act (AB117, Migden) San Francisco's 2001 "Solar Bond Authority" Proposition H (Section City Charter Section 9.107.8, Ammiano), co-author of the nation's original 1997 Massachusetts Community Choice law of 1997 (Chapter 164 of 1997, Section 247), and advisor in the early organizing and drafting of the nation's only other Community Choice laws in effect in Ohio (Section 4928.20 of Senate Bill 3, 1999) and New Jersey (chapter 24 of 2003). Local Power also played a major role in the creation of Califonria's Community Choice regulations and procedures, completed in 2005 and 2006.

Local Power is a member of the San Francisco Community Choice Alliance, including Sierra Club California, Greenpeace USA, Our City and numerous local groups, whose member organizations have over 50,000 members in San Francisco, and the California Community Choice Coalition, which includes Sierra Club California and Greenpeace USA.

Local Power is a member of, an international coalition against increased U.S. over-dependency on fossil fuel, and a proponent of accelerated renewable energy development. We have represented RACE at the California Public Utilities Commission's gas and electric procurement proceedings, and are an intervenor representing small ratepayers in the Commission's Community Choice Aggregation and energy efficiency proceedings. We have also served as an expert witness at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

We are not merely proponents of accelerated green power development, but have worked for years designing and winning enactment of the public purchasing and financing authorities that are essential to make such an acceleration both possible and economically feasible. Having successfully made Community Choice law in some of America's largest energy markets, and having developed and won voter approval for a new "H Bond" mechanism for financing of renewable energy and conservation facilities into a major U.S. city's charter, Local Power is now assisting municipal, county and state agencies find alternative energy providers, and use decentralized solar power and other technologies to stabilize their community's energy costs, reduce exposure to grid power volatility and clean up their air. The U.S. electricity industry is the world's largest cause of climate change, nuclear waste, and childhood asthma.

Local Power staff have decades of analytical, intellectual and political leadership, making us one of the most successful reshapers of America's energy industry.

Unable to find significant nonprofit funding support from U.S. foundations, in the Fall of 2007 Local Power's founders formed Local Power Inc., which is a consulting firm helping local governments implement the economic structures we have created, and secured investment from Acorn Energy (acornenergyinc.com). For the time being, local.org is an unfunded project that will continue to participate in the national energy, markets and democracy discussion, and hopes to play a major role in the coming changes in America's local and national political life. Local.org is also interested in Research and Development potential for various energy system designs Fenn and his friends have created. Parties interested in supporting or working with local.org should contact Paul Fenn at paulfenn@local.org or 415 663 9169.
Last Updated January, 2008.