When it comes to transitioning the electricity system, we are constrained by public policy choices and investment decisions made over the last 100 years. The past decisions have given us the infrastructure, ownership structure, regulatory process, and debts that define how we produce and use electricity. Today, we are poised to further electrify our energy use which will layer investments onto a system already at cross purposes with fundamental goals of transition to a more distributed and...

Welcome to a new Rise Up Podcast season focused on the energy transition in Midwest states!  In this podcast season, MREA Executive Director Nick Hylla talks to a range of professionals working to improve the energy system in Midwest states. The discussions focus on the decisions we'll need to make in regard to electric utility regulation, distributed energy resources, building energy efficiency, large-scale solar, and wind development, transmission build-out, small modular nuclear reactors,...

Rise Up’s season 3 finale is a special episode highlighting some of the great speakers and presenters that’ll be present at the 2022 Energy Fair. Guests join MREA Executive Director, Nick Hylla, to introduce themselves, preview their workshops at the Fair, as well as highlight some of their favorite Fair activities to get you in the spirit of the Fair! Don’t miss out, get your tickets to the 2022 Energy Fair being held between June 24, 2022 - June 26, 2022 in Custer, Wisconsin at...

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...

MREA Executive Director Nick Hylla hosts Shimekia Nichols, Executive Director of Soulardarity, an environmental non-profit based in Highland Park, Michigan. Soulardarity's mission is to build community power in Highland Park through community-owned solar streetlights. In their talk, Shimekia explains the origins of Soulardarity, how she came to be involved, and highlights the work Soulardarity has done and continues to do in its community. Get your tickets to the 2022 Energy Fair being held...

In today’s episode, MREA Executive Director Nick Hylla hosts Peter Murphy, the MREA’s Associate Director. Nick spoke with Peter about the development and growth of the Grow Solar Group Buy program, the strength of collective buying power in solar curious communities and methods to improve access to the benefits of solar. Peter details how group buy programs are saving consumers money while offering a better community experience. MREA Development Coordinator, Kyle Galloway ends the episode by...

MREA Executive Director Nick Hylla hosts Kyle Whyte, a 2022 MREA Energy Fair keynote speaker. Kyle is a Potawatomi climate/environmental justice scholar and organizer and professor at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability. During this conversation, Kyle addresses the environmental justice issues we currently face and the work he’s done to combat them. He also explains the concepts of kinship and knowledge sovereignty and highlights the real impacts they have...

MREA Executive Director Nick Hylla sits down with Sean Sherman, Sioux chef, cookbook author, and 2022 MREA Energy Fair keynote speaker, on what it means to decolonize foods. Sean talks about the work his restaurant, Owamni, and his non-profit, the North American Traditional Indigenous Food System, are doing to promote the use of native ingredients and traditional methods. Sean is also the author of The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen. For the second part of the podcast, Nick speaks with...

What role does inclusive financing play in ensuring the transition to clean energy is accessible to all? We sat down with Holmes Hummel and Anthony Kinslow II from Clean Energy Works to find out.

How can innovative financing incentivize private investment and accelerate the transition to clean energy? We sat down with Mary Templeton, President and CEO of Michigan Saves, to find out.

What happens when a strong coalition engages energy stakeholders and works tirelessly to chart an equitable renewable energy future in Illinois? We spoke with John Delurey, Senior Regional Director for Vote Solar, to find out.

What does decentralized ownership of renewable energy really look like and why does it matter? We sat down with John Farrell to find out.

What can American's energy future look like with the country's 573 Tribal Nations taking a leadership role in renewable energy? We sat down with Robert Blake - a tribal citizen of the Red Lake Nation, owner of the Solar Bear solar installation company, executive director of the nonprofit Native Sun Community Power Development, and board member of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association - to find out.

What happens when a state task force spends the better part of a year developing policy recommendations focused on mitigating and adapting to climate change? We sat down with Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change, to find out.

What can a deeper appreciation of the earth’s physical structure and natural processes lend to our understanding of the problems we face currently? We asked Marcia Bjornerud, a professor of Geosciences at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin and author of Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World. 

Summary:  How do we achieve a more equitable energy economy? If you ask Denise Abdul-Rahman with the NAACP, she’ll kindly tell you that we need a system that increases employment opportunities and decreases pollution externalities. We need a system that creates investment opportunities for those in need instead of long-term dependencies. We need a system that prioritizes raising people out of poverty above raising profits for the few. She’ll say it starts with dialogue – listening to the...

Did you know that uneconomical coal plants in the Midwest are costing you, the ratepayer, millions of dollars? In recent years, utilities across the region have been clinging to uneconomical coal assets while slow-walking investments in clean energy. Yet, the age of coal is coming to an end and plants in communities across the Midwest are on the chopping block. In this episode, we’ll speak with two frontline community leaders, both active in the fight for a just energy transition that...

How can your community gain influence over how your energy dollars are spent? It’s not easy.  In this episode, we discuss how jurisdictions are harnessing their economic and political power to get more local, clean energy. We speak to Mathew Roberts from the Southeast Ohio Public Energy Council (SOPEC) about how the regional council of governments is making energy decisions locally.

If you have been following energy policy developments in the Midwest over the last 5 years, you’ve probably noticed that electric utilities recently switched from fighting against solar energy development to developing solar projects at a record pace. Have energy companies seen the light? Should we shelve our concerns about wealthy, monopoly for-profit utility companies using their privileged market status and political connections to fight against solar energy and energy efficiency? Not so...

How does a small kid from a small town make a positive and lasting impact on the lives of many people?  If you ask Tia Nelson, she’ll tell you that it is by using our power to get up every day and try.  In this episode, we interview Tia Nelson about her decades of work in service of her father’s vision of improvingthe world’s most polluted environments in service of the people that live there. Fifty years ago, Gaylord Nelson - a small-town senator from Wisconsin - hosted a national sit-in to...

We are living in a time of uncertainty. The turmoil in global oil markets offers us a glimpse into a complex industry unraveling amid uncertainty and the federal response to save it at all cost. What if we invested in the long term stability of clean energy markets instead? To help us better understand our current situation, we interviewed American Author and Journalist, Bethany McLean, author of the book ‘Saudi America,’ about the eye opening developments in the US oil and gas market, we...

In this episode we’ll introduce ourselves, preview coming episodes, and interview the MREA’s Executive Director, Nick Hylla. In response to wide ranging questions from the MREA staff and Board of Directors, he’ll address the current economic crisis, the...