May Program features Kerri Johannsen, Iowa Environmental Council
Kristin Eggen, Communications Specialist
The Monthly Energy Breakfast series from the Winneshiek Energy District welcomes Kerri Johannsen from the Iowa Environmental Council to Decorah on Tuesday, May 21. Johannsen will join the local energy conversation at 7:30 AM at T-Bock’s Sports Bar and Grill and share updates from this legislative session regarding clean and local energy. Register at energydistrict.org/breakfast by May 17th.
Johannsen will provide a review of activity from this spring’s legislative session including the recently defeated HF 669 “sunshine tax” bill, and bills that passed which negatively affect electric vehicles and energy efficiency. She will discuss future legislative challenges and opportunities, and what citizens and clean energy organizations can do now to prepare.
“Defeating the MidAmerican Energy attack on net metering in Iowa (HF669) was a huge win”, said Joel Zook of the Energy District. “It would have killed much of Iowa’s growing solar industry. We expect the utility efforts against customer-owned solar to continue, however and will discuss this and other issues at breakfast. If you’re considering solar, however, the upshot is: do it now!”
Kerri Johannsen is Energy Program Director with the Iowa Environmental Council. She has over a decade of experience in energy policy, most recently serving as the Council’s Manager of Government Affairs, leading state-level legislative strategy. She previously developed energy policy with the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, administered the Iowa Power Fund for innovative clean energy projects, and worked as an analyst and Legislative Liaison with the Iowa Utilities Board before joining the Council in 2016.
The program will also feature a short introduction to the “Replace Our Ride” crowdfunding campaign. The Campaign was launched by the energy district mid-April and aims to raise $9,000 by May 31st to purchase a safe, reliable vehicle for the Green Iowa AmeriCorps team. Learn more at energydistrict.org.
The Winneshiek Energy District hosts free energy programming the third Tuesday of every month at T-Bock’s sports bar and grille. The event is free to attend and coffee and muffins will be available for purchase. To help with planning, please register at energydistrict.org/breakfast by Friday, May 17th.
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