In partnership with Winneshiek Energy District members, Kevin and Leslie Sand, our Green Iowa Americorps team created the Tiny Trees Initiative to make Decorah a little greener and help reduce the energy bills of Decorah residents through natural shade. A large shade tree should be planted 20 feet or more from the house to maximize the shade benefit and ensure the safety of your home (source). If you think you
Rural Solar Prosperity Under Attack In Iowa; Farm Solar Ban Proposed Recent years have witnessed a significant rise of anti-solar activism around Iowa (and the Midwest), and the sentiment is spreading to the Legislature. Efforts are afoot that would effectively ban commercial and utility-scale solar throughout the state, and kill a new rural industry, job-creator, and prosperity engine before it even gets off the ground. SSB 1077 would ban solar from
By Andy Johnson and Warren McKenna Click here to read the pdf version with footnoted sources Here we go again. Grid operators and utilities are issuing dire warnings about looming blackouts this winter, and often linking the threat to the closure of coal plants. The narrative serves utilities like MidAmerican Energy well, whose parent company Berkshire Hathaway Energy is one of the dirtiest utilities in the nation. MidAmerican would love
Andy Johnson, Executive Director We wrote back in June about how the clean grid of the future can indeed be an increasingly reliable and resilient grid. It was an effort to counter the narrative that reliability will only come through continued reliance on aging (and in fact, increasingly unreliable) coal plants. That narrative continues to be promoted by MidAmerican Energy, whose parent company Berkshire Hathaway Energy ranks nationally in the bottom five of the
Andy Johnson, Executive Director It is abundantly clear that we need more large-scale solar (and storage) to complement the high penetration of large-scale wind in Iowa and promote a cleaner and more reliable grid. Yet the siting of utility solar projects has become increasingly difficult, thanks to a vocal minority of anti-renewable advocates that appear to be increasingly politically motivated and often funded by fossil fuel interests. The University of Iowa’s Hubbell Environmental
Paul Cutting, Energy Planner Prolonged power outages in the wake of natural disasters show the value of solar with backup battery capabilities. Following Hurricane Ian back in September, many areas were left without power for weeks, and as Decorah residents witnessed last December following a freak early winter storm, the power can go out for extended periods of time. Utilizing a stationary backup battery like the 13kW Tesla Powerwall, while
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
By Joel Zook, Energy Planner These truly are unprecedented times. With the partial shutdown of our economy that is now slowly crawling back, it’s hard to know what the “new normal” will look like. We do know however, that there are good opportunities to invest in our local economy through energy efficiency and renewable energy. Those investments will help create a more robust and resilient economy. Money that we can
What’s At Stake The end of net metering and local solar prosperity may sound sensationalist, but that appears to be the goal of a new petition filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA). The NERA appears to be a front group for major electric utilities and anti-renewable energy groups. Ownership matters. When farms, homes, businesses, and institutions invest in solar energy, they