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For this episode of our Voices of 100% series of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell talks with Helena Sustainability Coordinator Patrick Judge and Citizens Conservation Commission Member Mark Juedeman. Judge and Juedeman supported Helena as the city committed to 100% renewable energy. In making its commitment, Helena has joined Missoula and Bozeman, building a commanding coalition in western Montana.

Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation.

Episode Transcript


Driven to Sustainability by Identity

Patrick Judge and Mark Juedeman were both drawn to work around sustainability and climate change because of their backgrounds.

Judge, Helena’s Sustainability Coordinator, was born and raised in Helena. His love for natural amenities and professional interest in the physical sciences drive him to make Helena a cleaner, more sustainable place. Moreover, Judge’s experience working on climate change issues allowed him to identify environmental threats to tourism and agriculture.

Clearly… global climate change is the most pressing issue facing us today on the environmental front, and beyond that, with serious threats to Montana’s quality of life: with the wildfires, and public health implications of that, and drought threatening our largest industries of agriculture and tourism. — Patrick Judge

Similarly, Mark Juedeman’s identity as a Montana native and educational background in geology led him to sustainability work and his role on the Citizens Conservation Commission. From being an early solar power adopter in Louisiana to his experience installing wind at his Montana ranch, Jeudeman’s commitment to Helena’s 100% renewable energy transition is evident in his lived experiences.

Creating Lasting Change, Despite Resistance

Together, Juedeman and Judge have helped Helena advance toward its sustainability goals. 30% of the city’s electricity supply already stems from hydro, wind, and solar energy. By 2030, the City of Helena plans to run on 100% clean electricity community-wide.

Helena’s clean electricity resolution was born from a 2009 Climate Change Action Plan, which drew inspiration from over 40 community recommendations on how to transition Helena to clean energy. More importantly, the 100% clean electricity goal was revitalized by a 2017 citizen conservation board led by Juedeman.

These sustainability efforts, however, have been met with major backlash from local and state officials. In the last five years, Helena has struggled within the confines of:

  • Reduced tax credits for conservation and renewable energy
  • Additional fees on electric vehicles
  • Attacks on net metering and a cap of 50 kilowatts on distributed solar
  • Preemption bills to limit the imposition of carbon taxes by local governments

With resistance coming down from the top, Helena community members have responded with grassroots organizing to broaden community support. The city is also working on its own energy efficiency and has also opted into a Property Assessed Clean Energy loan program, which provides zero-interest loans for improvements to energy efficiency or the installation of solar.

We face tremendous headwinds from the legislature and the executive branch. And so that’s kind of our motivation for doing everything we can at our city level. — Mark Juedeman

Community solar legislation would help make the transition more equitable, says Juedeman, because there is an affordability crisis in Montana and many cannot afford to own their own home. Since there is no state legislation allowing it, Helena has piloted some projects installing solar on affordable housing complexes.

Warily Partnering with Northwestern Energy

Another challenge to achieving Helena’s renewable energy goals? The regional monopoly utility company: Northwestern Energy. Northwestern Energy has a 220 megawatt coal plant that the company plans to operate until 2042, says Judge, along with plans to build a new 175 megawatt gas plant in the future. It will be difficult for Helena to reach its goals if the utility is serving them with electricity from these generation sources.

On the positive side, Northwestern Energy did hold a 2019 stakeholder convening with leaders from cities including Helena, Missoula, and Bozeman to discuss how the utility can serve their communities, says Judge.

We have had many conversations with the utility and, you know, we’re optimistic that we could make some progress. — Patrick Judge

The group became interested in replicating Utah’s 2019 Community Renewable Energy act. However, Northwestern Energy did not think an opt-out model was feasible in Montana. After the stakeholder input, Northwestern Energy is moving forward with an opt-in green tariff program.

Those communities already represent about a quarter of Northwestern’s Montana customer base, and those communities are also some of the fastest growing in the state… We think that’s a powerful, strong collective voice that the utility has to pay attention to. — Mark Juedeman

Episode Notes

See these resources for more behind the story:

For concrete examples of how towns and cities can take action toward gaining more control over their clean energy future, explore ILSR’s Community Power Toolkit.

Explore local and state policies and programs that help advance clean energy goals across the country, using ILSR’s interactive Community Power Map.


This is the 31st episode of our special  Voices of 100%series, and episode 137 of Local Energy Rules, an ILSR podcast with Energy Democracy Director John Farrell, which shares powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposes the policy and practical barriers to its expansion.

Local Energy Rules is Produced by ILSR’s John Farrell and Maria McCoy. Audio engineering by Drew Birschbach.

This article originally posted at ilsr.org. For timely updates, follow John Farrell on Twitter, our energy work on Facebook, or sign up to get the Energy Democracy weekly update

Featured Photo Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife via flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

 

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750W e-bikes in Europe? Discussions underway to update e-bike laws

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750W e-bikes in Europe? Discussions underway to update e-bike laws

The e-bike industry in the West has long been a tale of two territories. North Americans enjoy higher speeds and power limits for their electric bicycles while Europeans are held to much stricter (i.e. slower and lower) speed and power limits. However, things might change based on current discussions on rewriting European e-bike regulations.

New power levels are not totally without precedent, either. The UK briefly considered doubling its own e-bike power limit from 250 watts (approximately 1/3 horsepower) to 500 watts, though the move was ultimately abandoned.

But this time, the call for more power is coming from within the house – i.e., Germany. The Germans are the undisputed leaders and trend setters in the European e-bike market, accounting for around two million sales of e-bikes per year. Home to leading e-bike drive makers like Bosch, the country has yet another advantage when it comes to making – or regulating – waves in the industry.

And while there aren’t any pending law changes, the largest German trade organization ZIV (Zweirad-Industrie-Verband), which is highly influential in achieving such changes, is now discussing what it believes could be pertinent updates to current EU electric bike regulations.

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Some of the new regulations involve creating rules maxing out power at levels such as 400% or 600% of the human pedaling input. But a key component of the proposed plan includes changing the present day power limit of e-bikes from 250W of continuous power at the motor to 750W of peak power at the drive wheel.

The difference includes some nuance, since continuous power is often considered more of a nominal figure, meaning nearly every e-bike motor in Europe wears a “250W” or less sticker despite often outputting a higher level of peak power. Even Bosch, which has to walk the tight and narrow as a leader in the European e-bike drive market, shared that its newest models of motors are capable of peak power ratings in the 600W level. That’s still far from the commonly 1,000W to 1,300W peak power seen in US e-bike motors, but offers a nice boost over an actual 250W motor.

Other new regulations up for discussion include proposals to limit fully-loaded cargo e-bike weights to either 250 kg (550 lb) for two-wheelers or 300 kg (660 lb) for e-bikes with more than two wheels. As road.cc explained, ZIV also noted that, “separate framework conditions and parameters must be defined for cargo bikes weighing more than 300 kg (see EN 17860-4:2025) as they differ significantly from EPACs and bicycles in their dynamics, design and operation.” Such heavy-duty cargo e-bikes, which often more closely resemble small delivery vans than large cargo bikes, are becoming more common in the industry and have raised concerns about cargo e-bike bloat, especially in dedicated cycling paths.

It’s too early to say whether European e-bike regulations will actually change, but the fact that key industry voices with the power to influence policy are openly advocating for it suggests that new rules for the European market are a real possibility.

ride1up prodigy v2 electric bike brose motor

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China overhauls EV charging: 100,000 ultra-fast public stations by 2027

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China overhauls EV charging: 100,000 ultra-fast public stations by 2027

China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.

The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.

The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.

China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.

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To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.

To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.

The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.

As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.

Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles


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Two charged in $650 million global crypto scam that promised 300% returns

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Two charged in 0 million global crypto scam that promised 300% returns

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as “Main Justice,” is seen behind the podium in the Department’s headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

Federal prosecutors have charged two men in connection with a sprawling cryptocurrency investment scheme that defrauded victims out of more than $650 million.

The indictment, unsealed in the District of Puerto Rico, accuses Michael Shannon Sims, 48, of Georgia and Florida, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, of New Jersey and Florida, of operating and promoting OmegaPro, an international crypto multi-level marketing scheme that promised investors 300% returns over 16 months through foreign exchange trading.

“This case exposes the ruthless reality of modern financial crime,” said the Internal Revenue Service’s Chief of Criminal Investigations Guy Ficco. “OmegaPro promised financial freedom but delivered financial ruin.”

From 2019 to 2023, Sims, Reynoso and their co-conspirators allegedly lured thousands of victims worldwide to purchase “investment packages” using cryptocurrency, falsely claiming the funds would be safely managed by elite forex traders, the Department of Justice said.

Prosecutors said the pair flaunted their wealth through social media and extravagant events — including projecting the OmegaPro logo onto the Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s tallest building — to convince investors the operation was legitimate.

A video posted to the company’s LinkedIn page shows guests in evening attire posing for photos and watching the spectacle in Dubai.

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In reality, authorities allege, OmegaPro was a pyramid-style fraud.

When the company later claimed it had suffered a hack, the defendants told victims they had transferred their funds to a new platform called Broker Group, the DOJ said. Users were never able to withdraw their money from either platform.

The two men face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The Justice Department, FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations led the multiagency investigation, with help from international partners.

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