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Welcome, New Green Iowa Americorps Team!

August 31, 2020

Heidi Eger, CommunicationsOn 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 …


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Green Iowa Team Finishes Service Year

August 31, 2020

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 …


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Tax Credit for EV Chargers

August 31, 2020

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 …


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2020 Electric Vehicle Showcase

August 31, 2020

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 …


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Deep Roots

July 27, 2020

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 …


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Policy Updates Discussed During July’s Energy Lunch

July 27, 2020

July’s Energy Lunch featured an environmental policy panel consisting of Kerri Johannsen, of the Iowa Environmental Council; Steve Falck, of the Environmental Policy & Law Center; and our own Andy Johnson. The panelists covered a …


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2020 Alliant Residential Rebates

July 27, 2020

Joel Zook, Energy PlannerAlliant Energy has doubled the amount of their residential rebates and dramatically increased the rebate amount for their small business lighting rebate program. The increased rebate levels are only good through the …


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Iowa’s Net Metering Saga Continues

July 27, 2020

Remember March, before the world turned upside down? It was actually a remarkable month for clean energy in Iowa. The Legislature unanimously passed SF 583, which codified net metering for Iowa’s investor owned utilities until …


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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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June’s Energy Lunch: The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture in Iowa

June 22, 2020

By Colin Weber, Green Iowa MemberOn June 23rd, Dr. Dennis Todey, director of the USDA Midwest Climate Hub, gave a presentation entitled “The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture in Iowa” for the Winneshiek Energy …


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FERC and the War on Net Metering

June 17, 2020

By Andy Johnson, Executive DirectorThere is growing interest in what’s happening at the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) around net metering for customer-owned solar. We introduced the topic last issue, and provided a resource page …


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Bright Box Program Offers No-Contact Energy and Carbon Savings

June 17, 2020

by Jessica Hegdahl, Audit CoordinatorThere’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and when it will be safe for the Winneshiek Energy District to resume in-home energy assessments. So we got creative! We are excited to …


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The City of West Union Embarks on a New Project to Study and Advance West Union’s Local Energy Opportunities

May 26, 2020

By Joel Zook, Energy Planner, and Joleen Jansen, Program Coordinator Clayton County Energy DistrictThe City of West Union was recently awarded an Iowa Economic Development Authority/Iowa Energy Center grant to study the current public geothermal …


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Green Iowa Team helps at Food Hub

May 25, 2020

By Briana Burke, Green Iowa Americorps Member Every year, the American food system uses about the same amount of energy as the entire country of France- that’s a lot of energy! Although our Green Iowa …


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May’s Solar to Storage Webinar

May 21, 2020

By Jim Martin-Schramm The director of Luther College’s Center for Sustainable Communities, Jim Martin-Schramm, presented “Solar to Storage” during the Winneshiek Energy District’s Online Lunch Webinar on Tuesday, May 19. Jim spoke about Luther’s latest …