Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Americana
JCShepard.com | June 21, 2026 | Category: Policy, Economy Rural America is about to feel the energy transition in a very literal way: not as a headline about megawatts and gigatons, but as center pivots moved for a transmission line, prime farmland plowed under for a bright new data center lighting up the night sky, […]
JCShepard.com | June 2026 | Category: Policy, Economy Every comprehensive plan has a chapter that doesn’t always get the spotlight. It sits between community facilities and land use, quietly doing its job. In Thayer County, Nebraska, for example—a rural county of about 5,000 residents who I worked with on their comp plan—that chapter is titled […]
A Holistic Rural Energy Vision for The Rural Energy Stack: Layering Biomass, Geothermal, and SMRs with Wind and Solar for Resilience How Integrated Clean Energy Systems Can Revitalize Rural Economies Today’s bonus post follows up on this week’s fourth installment in JCShepard.com’s October series on rural energy, exploring how the clean energy transition is reshaping […]
Clean energy is driving a quiet revolution in rural America—not just through wind farms and solar panels, but through a rediscovery of local power, community resilience, and land-based innovation. Is the future of rural America to be found in our past? Author L. Michelle Moore thinks there are lessons there, especially for small towns and […]
A Perfect Storm for Rural Electricity This article kicks off JCShepard.com’s October energy series, exploring how the accelerating energy transition is reshaping rural communities across North America. Across the world we are using and producing more energy of all sorts. There is also a major shift unfolding beneath the surface of that energy trend: how […]
The rural energy landscape is entering a new era—fueled by data, defined by decarbonization, and embedded in a fast-changing energy economy. For small towns and rural communities, the stakes are high. But so is the potential for resilience and prosperity. This October, JCShepard.com explores how the rapidly evolving energy economy is reshaping the future of […]
Living off grid is a dream for many who move to the countryside, seeking self-reliance and independence. If you work in a small-town or rural planning office, you’ve likely encountered these modern homesteaders—residents with visions that echo those of early pioneers, building cabins and settling the land. Today’s off-grid dreamers often favor tiny homes of […]
Policy and Governance is our April theme this year. What better way to kick off the topic than the American Planning Association (APA) National Planning Conference (NPC25) which took place in Denver, Colorado, this year. Good Planning Practice Good planning practice is key to good public policy and governance, which is essential to building resilient […]
The Bakken fracking boom is a testament to the innate ingenuity of the human mind. Who thought just a few short years ago that application of new technology on old oil fields would turn North Dakota into America’s 2nd largest oil producing state, and subsequently turn around a century of out-migration. What a tremendous opportunity. […]
Made the local newspaper today. They didn’t spell my name right, but they got the gist of the story straight. Fairfield Energy Partners proposed to build a single 2.5 MW direct-drive wind turbine on an 80-meter tower, at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center west of Cheyenne. The Large Wind Energy System (WES) would provide peaking power […]
