Logo for Winneshiek Energy District featuring a stylized town silhouette, a wind turbine, solar panels, and a radiant yellow sky.

Energy Saving Steps Can Reduce Winter Heating Costs

November 26, 2021

This story ran in the October 20, 2021 edition of the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman, and is reprinted with permission. With heating bills expected to rise this winter, there are a number of ways that …

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Logo for Winneshiek Energy District featuring a stylized town silhouette, a wind turbine, solar panels, and a radiant yellow sky.

WED Wraps Up West Union Geothermal Project

October 27, 2021

WED Energy Planner Joel Zook has been working with the City of West Union for the past 18 months, helping to increase participation in their city-owned district geothermal system. The projects is wrapping up and …

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Logo for Winneshiek Energy District featuring a stylized town silhouette, a wind turbine, solar panels, and a radiant yellow sky.

Life With Renewables

May 31, 2021

By Jim FritzI was a sophomore in high school for the first Earth Day. We had a whole day devoted to it with speakers, activities, etc. Our biology teacher (I nearly became a biology teacher …

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Logo for Winneshiek Energy District featuring a stylized town silhouette, a wind turbine, solar panels, and a radiant yellow sky.

Watts Cooking?

April 26, 2021

Martin Donovan, Green Iowa Americorps When you’re cooking up ways to increase the efficiency of your home, upgrading your stove to an induction cooktop could be a fun and useful thing to consider. Unlike electric …

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Logo for Winneshiek Energy District featuring a stylized town silhouette, a wind turbine, solar panels, and a radiant yellow sky.

Howard County Virtual Clean Energy Tour April 1st

March 30, 2021

Register now for Howard County Energy District’s virtual energy tour, taking place Thursday April 1st(no fooling!), 7:00 to 8:15pm.”Join us to hear four great, local stories” said HCED board chair Amy Bouska. “Learn how solar …

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Logo for Winneshiek Energy District featuring a stylized town silhouette, a wind turbine, solar panels, and a radiant yellow sky.

First Step Home Audit Signups Re-open for Vaccinated Families

March 24, 2021

Is every member of your household fully vaccinated against Covid-19? If so, the Green Iowa Americorps team is excited to offer you a First Step Home Energy Audit! Call our office (563) 382-4207 to schedule …

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Logo for Winneshiek Energy District featuring a stylized town silhouette, a wind turbine, solar panels, and a radiant yellow sky.

Solar in 2021

October 27, 2020

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 …

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Logo for Winneshiek Energy District featuring a stylized town silhouette, a wind turbine, solar panels, and a radiant yellow sky.

Tax Credits – Not Just Solar

June 24, 2020

by Joel Zook, Energy Planner We’ve talked a lot here at the energy district about the phase out of the solar tax credits, but it’s important to know that there are other tax credits for …

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Award will Improve Efficiency in two Decorah Apartment Buildings

May 18, 2020

DECORAH – With help from the Winneshiek Energy District and Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission, the City of Decorah applied for $233,638 from the Iowa Development Authority’s Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. The …

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Logo for Winneshiek Energy District featuring a stylized town silhouette, a wind turbine, solar panels, and a radiant yellow sky.

What you need to know about solar in 2020

February 24, 2020

Interested in investing in solar for your home, farm, or business? 2020 is the perfect time to go solar! A combination of low solar costs combined with federal and state tax credits (which are decreasing …

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LED Holiday Lights

December 9, 2019

This article is an excerpt from the Department of Energy’s page on LED lighting. We love how it takes into account the longevity of an LED strand and lays out the math of electrical use. …

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Decorah Bank and Trust: A key partner for Energy Efficiency

November 26, 2019

By: Briana Burke, Green Iowa AmeriCorpsNE Iowa’s Energy-Efficiency TriadIn 2017 an estimated 66.7% to 86% of energy production in the United States was wasted (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2017). In a time when we are …

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Energy Burden in Rural America

October 23, 2019

Joel Zook, Energy Planner The ACEEE article shared in this newsletter shows that rural American households are one-third more likely to be energy burdened than the average US household. There are several ways to calculate …

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Logo for Winneshiek Energy District featuring a stylized town silhouette, a wind turbine, solar panels, and a radiant yellow sky.

Tax Credits: Our Take

September 24, 2019

With the potential phase-out of various tax credits, we’re often asked (or we offer) our perspective. Here it is, in brief. Renewable energy tax credits have worked: they have driven the scaling up of the …

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Energy Savvy Business -Fall Learning Series

July 30, 2019

Are you a Decorah Chamber member looking to save money and go green? The Winneshiek Energy District and Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce invites you to become an Energy Savvy Business with this four-week course. …

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