Santa Fe, New Mexico: This very liberal small city has embraced green goals, and introduced a green building code, but it's also the capital of a coal and oil producing state, so its main utility company has talked a bigger renewable game than it has delivered so far. (It's great to see the handful of solar panels along the main north-south highway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, in front of the conventional power plant -- and a vane of a giant wind turbine lying alongside them--but it's also a symbol of the tokenism of the company.) PNM has challenged the legality of the city's attempts to contract with a 3rd party for solar power for city buildings, claiming that as a regulated utility, they, PNM, have a monopoly on power supply.
Now the county of Santa Fe has created a renewable energy district and any entity, home or business, can apply to become part of the district. This gives you the ability to pay back the solar or other renewable energy construction costs via a property tax surcharge, which stays with the building even after a sale. Funding from private sources will be sure to flood in, and the city and county should be able to keep it all going with bonds.
Now the county of Santa Fe has created a renewable energy district and any entity, home or business, can apply to become part of the district. This gives you the ability to pay back the solar or other renewable energy construction costs via a property tax surcharge, which stays with the building even after a sale. Funding from private sources will be sure to flood in, and the city and county should be able to keep it all going with bonds.
