Every month, money leaves the house for electricity, heat, and gas, and every month it's simply gone. Paul Fenn calls that energy rent, and it costs about $70,000 per decade for an average NYSEG household.

Fenn is the founder and president of Local Power, the consultancy Bloomberg once called the utility industry's number one enemy. He now administers the municipality of Ithaca's two energy pilot programs. One is the CCA, which buys electricity and gas in bulk for the whole municipality and is currently paused pending state regulators. The other is Own Your Power, which is open to renters as well as owners.

Own Your Power helps participants design and buy energy systems on their own site or block: rooftop solar, heat pumps, hot water, storage, and a two-way EV charger that works as a battery, all run as one asset. This pilot takes on  ...