As we wrap up our 2020 Membership Drive, we are filled with gratitude for all of our member donors who were able to give to support our mission of advancing the clean energy transition. 2020 was WED’s tenth birthday so this membership season was extra special. Thank you to all of you who have been members since the beginning, to all of our new members, and who give when you can!
Author Archives: Kristin Eggen
By Maggie Anderson, Green Iowa Americorps Joel Fassbinder, local beekeeper and owner of Highlandville Honey Farm, enhances the newly emerging and exciting environmentally friendly technique of putting pollinator habitat underneath solar arrays, thanks to his honey bee hives located in a solar field! Dramatic declines in insect abundance and diversity are becoming increasingly well documented worldwide, largely as a result of global warming and habitat loss. There is a need
by Joel Zook, Energy Planner 2021 is going to be another exciting year for solar. It’s a big deal that federal tax credits have been extended, net-metering laws are in place for Iowa’s investor-owned utilities (Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy) that give long term peace of mind to solar owners, AND the state legislature is looking at renewing and extending the state solar tax credit. Meanwhile, installed prices continue their
Cody Smith, Policy Associate at the Center for Rural Affairs, works on midwest policies that help amplify the positive effects of clean energy. There are many opportunity to combine clean, renewable energy infrastructure with beneficial habitat for native species. Whether planting pollinator habitat under solar panels, creating migratory bird corridors along transmission lines, or improving habitat around wind turbines, there are lots of exciting ways to link clean energy and
From August 8th through October 3rd, Winneshiek Energy District presented a Electric Vehicle Showcase at the Decorah Farmers Market. Each week, we had an electric vehicle with it’s owner-ambassador at the farmers market. All of our owner-ambassadors live in Iowa and use their cars for their daily commutes, trips around town, and even for road trips! Below is the full list of cars with a little synopsis of each: August
Heidi Eger, Communications On September 24th, 2020 the new team of Green Iowa Americorps members arrived at the WED office. We are excited to have each of the 5 new members joining us for an 11 month term at the Winneshiek Energy District. All are 2020 Luther grads so they know the layout of town and are ready to get to work! At the beginning of the term, the team
Briana Burke, Green Iowa Education Coordinator Prairies are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world- meaning they have a lot of different types of plants and animals that live there. However, it is also one of the most endangered ecosystems. In Iowa, it is estimated that less than 0.1% of the prairie that used to cover the state remains. In 2002, the Decorah City Council moved to convert
Last month we wrote about tax credits for energy efficiency and geothermal and we’ve talked a lot about the available – and phasing out – tax credits for solar. Did you know that there are tax credits for electric vehicle chargers too? You can get up to 30% of the cost of your charger, including installation costs, capped at $1,000. This tax credit is retroactive so if you installed an
The Decorah Farmers Market has a new booth this fall: Winneshiek Energy District’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Tent! For eight weeks, the Winneshiek Energy District is setting up a pop-up canopy at the farmers market and bringing a local EV and it’s owner to downtown Decorah. We wanted to show our community a sampling of the wide range of EV options on the market and give them a chance to ask
The 2019-2020 Americorps team wrapped up their service year in mid-August. The team of 5 full-time and 3 summer members made an incredible impact in our community! Between September of 2019 and March of 2020, the team completed 52 audits across 6 counties. They changed over 1500 lightbulbs, saving families in our community over $9000 dollars and eliminating 80 metric tons of carbon emissions. That is the equivalent of taking