New York is facing an affordability crisis rooted in a deeper problem: too many essential systems are controlled by distant corporations. This has left residents with high grocery and energy costs, ...

ILSR has conducted a sweeping investigation that reveals Amazon has quietly become a major force in how cities, counties, and school districts purchase basic supplies — and that its tightening grip is ...

Across coastal New England and NYC, 37 organizations received grants of $10,000 each to support new or existing composting projects. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is proud to announce ...

The Trump administration’s actions are making electricity more expensive for everyone. But this state is ramping up the fight for energy affordability and access. For this bonus episode of the Local ...

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission recently approved the sale of Allete Energy to private equity firm BlackRock and a Canadian pension fund. The Citizen’s Utility Board of Minnesota fought ...

You’d think a company with as many resources, employees, and facilities as AT&T or Comcast would have good customer service. Surely, with all the billions of dollars flowing through these businesses, ...

One way to build local power is to catalyze change directly in your community. Another, equally important method is to catalyze the catalysts. To really make change and build sustainable local ...

More than almost any other factor, a community’s planning and land use laws and policies affect its success — or failure — in cultivating and supporting small, locally owned businesses. Below, we ...

In late 2024, Rachel Hernandez ran a successful campaign to become mayor of Riverbank, California. A small town at the top of the state’s central valley, Riverbank may not fit into what you imagine as ...

Distributed solar, which can be owned by individuals, small businesses, and public entities, is turning the electricity industry upside down as individuals choose to generate their own solar power on ...

Welcome to ILSR’s interactive map and database of state antitrust laws. This map, built from a database of antitrust statutes of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, is intended to give ...

The third episode in the Building Local Power: The New Class series finds us talking to North Carolina State Rep. Dante Pittman, recently elected to represent his hometown of Wilson, N.C., and the ...