The Institute for Local Self-Reliance recently released a report detailing how Federal tax incentives remove the economic advantages of local ownership of solar power systems and places them on larger centralized systems.
 
The size of concentrating solar plants precludes local ownership, a benefit that renewable energy policy must factor in. "Ownership converts citizens into energy producers, which in turn gives them a personal stake in expanding the use of renewable energy," notes Farrell. "It also encourages them to maximize energy efficiency, because the greater the efficiency the more independent they become, perhaps even becoming a net exporter of electricity."
 
The authors of the report focus on incentives for solar power, but similar incentives promote centralized biofuel systems. The ethanol and biodiesel credits favor centralized blending with petroleum fuels (VEETC blending credits) more than the actual production of the fuel (small producer production credits). Policies such as these often incubate energy insecurity rather than local self-reliance.