Glenn Barnes is a senior project director at the Environmental Finance Center based at the UNC School of Government. Electricity rates have been a hot topic lately in North Carolina, especially for customers of Duke Energy.  For small- and medium-sized manufacturers in the state, the Department of E … Read more

Glenn Barnes is Senior Project Director with the Environmental Finance Center based at the UNC School of Government.  This past July, the state issued a letter to notify North Carolina cities and counties of an opportunity to access a relatively inexpensive source of capital: Qualified Energy Conser … Read more

There are quite a few energy efficiency projects that pay themselves back in energy savings in a matter of years, sometimes months.  According to my freshman college environmental studies professor, these projects are better than a free lunch;  they’re “a lunch that you’re paid to eat.” Yet, if a pr … Read more

Glenn Barnes is Senior Project Director with the Environmental Finance Center based at the UNC School of Government. In the 1989 film Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner plays a farmer who hears a whisper in the cornfields.  “If you build it,” the whisper says, “he will come.”  He is inspired to plow dow … Read more

The typical U.S. household spends about $2,300 in annual energy costs, more than the average cost of property taxes or homeowners insurance.  Energy costs are the largest ongoing cost for the average home owner, and many projects will ultimately pay for themselves from the avoided costs of energy.  … Read more

Tyler Mulligan is a School of Government faculty member.  Following the 2010 session of the North Carolina General Assembly, local governments will see an essentially unchanged statutory landscape for community and economic development. Some of the highlights are discussed below. What’s the Same Nor … Read more

Tyler Mulligan is a School of Government faculty member. Have leaders in your community been using words like “green economy” and “green jobs?” What role can a local government play in enhancing the local green economy and creating some green jobs? This post explores one possible role: local governm … Read more