It’s during the darkest days of the year I find myself most grateful for modern energy systems. Can you relate? When temperatures plummet and daylight is scarce That’s when the brilliance of electricity or warmth of a functioning furnace is a Big Deal. On a frigid night, it can almost feel magical. But it’s not magical. A lot goes on behind the scenes in the mostly-invisible world of energy. We
Paul Cutting, Energy Planner The first of many new IRA-related tax credits and incentives came into effect January 1, 2023, and include new and updated tax credits for solar, battery storage, heat pumps, electric vehicles and more. We’re also excited about two electrification and efficiency rebate programs, and anticipate they will come into effect sometime late this year or early 2024. Solar, Battery Backup, Wind and Geothermal Tax Credits Following
by Josh Dansdill, RC&D Business Development Project Director I was recently asked, what did you learn upon completing an EV Tourism Study for Northeast Iowa? The first word that came to my mind was, opportunity. An opportunity for Northeast Iowa to claim itself as an EV-friendly vacation destination. It seems that many communities and regions have yet to connect to the electric vehicle market especially in the Midwest. With Northeast
by Paul Cutting, Energy Planner Get ready, it may cost a lot more to heat your home this winter. The convergence of a multitude of factors, including the war in Ukraine, a summer of unprecedented heat and electricity demand, diminished seasonal natural gas reserves, record exports of liquified natural gas, impending price caps on Russian energy, and continued fallout from the February 2021 Texas energy meltdown are all aligning to
By Andy Johnson, Executive Director The Inflation Reduction Act, aka the Schumer-Manchin climate deal, is historic – for a clean energy transition, rural prosperity, climate stewardship, economic and environmental justice, and for future generations. For great coverage of the entire bill, see Canary Media, the Bipartisan Policy Center, Rewiring America, and elsewhere. Even better, we encourage clean energy afficionados to listen to these three recent episodes of the podcast Volts:
Inflation Reduction Act Consumer Incentives Fact Sheets! Click each fact sheet to download PDF.
Join us October 13 for the Northeast Iowa Get Charged Up! EV Event! A line up of subject matter experts and panel discussions will introduce attendees to community electric vehicle (EV) readiness, EV fleet transitions, charging infrastructure deployment, funding opportunities and more. Also check out the EV exhibit, Ride and Drive opportunity, and vendors. Our goal is to bring engagement around this expanding technology to our local communities so
Maddi MacDonald, Green Iowa Americorps It was a great pleasure to welcome Chris Johnson, President/CEO of Vesterheim, on 06.21.22 to speak about the Vesterheim expansion and energy projects. Vesterheim is the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School here in the heart of Decorah, with a history dating back to 1877. Starting as a small collection on Luther’s campus, Vesterheim has grown to be a pinnacle point for this community.
Zachary Fromm, Board Member, Winneshiek Energy District What is the range of electric vehicles compared to vehicles with conventional internal combustion engines? The range of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is difficult to measure because you are not dealing with gallons of gasoline; you are dealing with kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity. The question is the same, however: How far can I drive on a full tank of … electrons vs. gasoline?
Andy Johnson, Executive Director The Iowa Utilities Board has declined to hear Decorah’s complaint requesting utility data from Alliant, despite their own staff and the Office of Consumer Advocate recommending they do so. The data was requested by the Municipal Electric Utility Task Force in order to update or conduct a new feasibility study, as charged by the city council. The Utilities Board determined they simply did not have legal