Institute for Local Self-Reliance

It has been so great to talk to you about this impressive program and the depth of a commitment to distributive equity, to low and moderate income folks, the integration with the sort of broader sense of system planning.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that ILSR has some great tracker tools.

If you want to see the growth of the program, we have a quarterly tracker of capacity.

We have a deep dive on each state's program rules, so you can learn more about that.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Unbuffered Podcast.

We have transcripts for this and other episodes available at ilsr.org slash podcast.

While you're there, check out our other podcasts from ILSR, including Building Local Power, Local Energy Rules, and the Composting for Community podcast.

Email us at podcast at communitynets.org with your ideas for the show.

Follow us on Blue Sky.

So we want to make sure that the people that are most interested in delivering equitable access and meaningful use to communities have the access to capital that enables those plans to move forward everywhere, not just where it's most profitable.

And we have a history of working together, both you and I, but then more significantly Connect Humanity and ILSR on some of these projects.

So we're big fans of everything that you all do.

And likewise.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Unbuffered Podcast.

We have transcripts for this and other episodes available at ilsr.org slash podcast.

While you're there, check out our other podcasts from ILSR, including Building Local Power, Local Energy Rules, and the Composting for Community podcast.

Email us at podcasts at communitynets.org with your ideas for the show.

Now, what are you doing in Arizona right now?

So I work for an organization called the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which is a bit of a mouthful, but we're a national nonprofit organization that helps communities control their own futures, really become vibrant places.

And we have had a longtime relationship with Local First Arizona.

great partners of ours working on a lot of policy issues that affect independent businesses.

And anyway, I went off to college in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and lived there for about 10 years.

And in college, sort of studied history because I was interested in how do things actually change.

And out of college got a job at the Institute for local self-reliance.

I saw this ad and I thought, well, that's interesting.

Doug Dawson is here from CCG Consulting, and he's the definitive expert on most topics, as we've established in AI because of his daily blog.

And then Chris Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

And Chris is also an expert, and both of them are experts at having great opinions and doing hot takes with me, so that's what we're talking about today, the USAC ruling.

Doug, I'm gonna just start with you.

As always, always enjoy having you all on.

We'll do it again sometime.

My guests today here on Broadband Action have been Chris Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Doug Dawson with CCG Consulting, and I'm Curtis Dean, your host.

Thank you all for joining us here on Broadband Action.

So what makes local advocates hopeful that St. Petersburg, Florida can buck the trend of public power campaigns and end with a transition from Duke Energy to a locally owned utility company? Joining me in September 2026, Susan Glickman, VP of Policy and Partnerships with the Clio Institute, and Jason Scott, a utility planner and an organizer with Dump Duke, join me to discuss the next steps in the effort to change utilities, whether a former governor turned mayoral candidate could help or hurt, and how the state's welcome mat for data centers might be of use.

I'm John Farrell, Director of the Energy Democracy Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and this is Local Energy Rules, a podcast about monopoly power, energy democracy, and how communities can take charge to transform the energy system.

Jason and Susan, welcome to Local Energy Rules.

Thanks for having us.

In early October 2026, the hobbled antitrust regulator announced a settlement with Southern that would see it pay a whopping zero dollars in penalties.

Joining me today on The Fingers Podcast is Ron Knox, a senior researcher and policy advocate at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Having followed the FTC's case against Southern from the jump, and understanding which way the political winds are now blowing in Washington, D.C., he wasn't exactly surprised to see how this one shook out, but that doesn't mean he wasn't disappointed.

Ron and I spoke at depth about Southern's sweetheart settlement, how it may reshape the trade, and its broader implications for antitrust enforcement in the booze industry and beyond.

Yeah.

Well, look, Ron, we could talk about that all day, and I would certainly enjoy that, but that is not, uh, what you're here to talk about because you've got, uh, some, some work that you've done mo- recently on something that's a little bit closer to home even for, for the Fingers audience and, and, and readership and listeners.

Um, as your, w- you know, uh, role as a senior researcher and policy advocate at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, you, uh, you've been taking a look at, uh, another large company that isn't afraid to, to look around for a tax incentive itself, um, but is, is, uh, I would say generally also just quite, uh, dexterous at navigating the halls of power, uh, in state houses across the country and certainly, uh, on Capitol Hill when need be.

I'm talking, of course, about Southern Glazer's, uh, Wine and Spirits, the largest, uh, liquor and wine distributor in the country, um, and the 10th-ish pri- uh, largest privately held business in the United States.

And so, uh, we got tribal priority windows before Spectrum was auctioned off to the big companies.

Um- And at the same time, there are communities, uh, Institute for Local Self-Reliance and others, who are helping, uh, train tribal communities to build infrastructure in the way they want.

Yeah.

So they own the spectrum, they own the resources, and they build how they want in their community.