Join us for the Earth Hour candle-lit vigil

Join us for a candle-lit vigil in support of the planet, at Water Street Park in downtown Decorah, starting at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 28, 2015. Bring a candle, bring a guitar, bring your voice, and bring your desire to change climate change. After some time at the vigil, step across the street to Java John’s Coffeehouse for a candle-lit coffee, wine, and beer experience. If your business would like to

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Energizing Agriculture

Winneshiek Energy District has been awarded over $400,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture to develop and implement an agricultural energy efficiency and renewables initiative over three years. The initiative will include the six Northeast Iowa counties of Winneshiek, Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette, Howard, and Chickasaw. “Farmers aren’t too different from the rest of us” says District Director Andy Johnson, “they lead busy lives and energy isn’t always top of

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Voter Attitudes Towards Energy Issues in Iowa 2014

The following document presents the results of an August 2014, bipartisan survey of Iowa registered voters on energy issues. The survey was commissioned by the REAMP network, a consortium of energy and climate organizations in 8 Midwestern states, of which Winneshiek Energy District is a member. 2014 Midwestern Energy Issues Survey Iowa Release

IUB Still Seeking Comments on Distributed Generation, Net Metering, & Innerconnection

Update: The current round of comments and replies in the Net Metering portion of this docket is closed. We will leave the explanatory section below for those interested, and provide updates and new guidance as the docket progresses. On January 7, 2014, the Iowa Utilities Board (Board) issued an order commencing an inquiry docket into distributed generation (DG). DG includes the full spectrum of customer owned or third-party owned electrical generation

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Decorah Tops the Chart of Energy Star Buildings Per Capita

Decorah is becoming known as a progressive community, and the Winneshiek Energy District is doing its part to promote energy sustainability. Two recent newsworthy announcements confirm Decorah as a statewide leader in green building and energy efficiency. For the past year the Energy District has facilitated the Energy Star application and certification process for many commercial buildings in Decorah. First Lutheran Church and First United Methodist Church became two of

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Oneota Coop Begins Solar Installation

If you see lots of movement on the roof of the Oneota Community Food Co-op in the coming weeks, don’t be surprised. The Co-op is currently installing a 20,000 watt solar array on the roof of their building located at 312 West Water St. in downtown Decorah.  This will be one of the largest downtown solar projects in Decorah and will supply approximately 5% of the Co-op’s electricity in a

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Introducing the Winnshiek Solar Energy Map!

Note: This guest post was written by Luke Stennes, a WED summer intern in 2013. My name is Luke Stennes and I’ve been working as an intern with the Winneshiek Energy District for the summer. I applied for the position because I did not know very much at all about sustainable energy, and I wanted to increase that knowledge by getting involved in the community. The objective of my position was

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Energy District Director to Take Sabbatical

I’ll write this in first person because farewells – even temporary ones – are personal. Most good and meaningful work is also inseparable from our personal/family lives (my wife Emily might say too much so, but she can’t say it too loudly as she’s a Certified Nurse Midwife!) I’ve been leading Winneshiek Energy District since its inception from wide and deep community conversation in 2010. These conversations continue to grow

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