Winds of change are being felt across the energy industry. As fossil fuels become less economically feasible to sustain our thirst for energy, new options are being explored. Renewable energy, earth’s naturally regenerative energy resources, becomes more financially attractive as the price of oil explodes. What makes these energy sources unique is that they can be harvested directly on site and distributed to surrounding communities. With renewable energy, centralized power production suddenly becomes less efficient and less economically sound.

Alternative energy companies are now putting energy directly into the hands of the people using it. These people are empowered with their own secure source of energy. This is the beginning of the democratization of the energy industry, where the control is taken away from the hands of the few and put into the hands of many.

We have seen a trend like this over the past 10 years in the information industry. The internet revolution and the age of Web 2.0 applications has brought the common man a breadth of information that just a decade ago was reserved for the wealthy and powerful. The web services Facebook and MySpace have allowed us to connect to one another in new and meaningful ways. A tech-minded blog Digg democratizes the process of who chooses what news is the most important and the most meaningful.

We are now entering the Energy 2.0 age, where the power is no longer in the hands of politicians or centralized big businesses. Now, institutions like the Munksjo Paper Plant in Fitchburg, Massachusetts areh facing bankruptcy due to skyrocketing energy costs can regain control over their own fate. Communities all around the world have been given the tools to actively pursue an independent and democratic energy future. Just as our the founders of our nation brought the power of politics to the people, and the internet brought the power of information to the people, renewable energy will one day bring the power of energy to the people.