Andy Johnson, Director Joel Zook, Energy Planner The Iowa Legislature just passed a bill creating a new triple-tax scenario on electric vehicles (EV) for Iowans, and a bureaucratic nightmare to implement. HF767 fails to address the real challenges involved and creates a burden of triple-taxation and regulatory uncertainty for Iowa households, farms, businesses and institutions. There is no question that the transition to electric vehicles will require policy adjustment to
Kristin Eggen, Communications Specialist The Winneshiek Energy District is partnering with Luna Valley Farm on Friday, May 17th from 4-8pm for a clean energy fundraising night. A percentage of the evening’s sales will support local, clean energy programming in Winneshiek County. The Winneshiek Energy District is a local non-profit with a mission to lead, implement, and accelerate the locally-owned, inclusive, clean energy transition in Winneshiek County. Recent projects have included
Kristin Eggen, Communications Specialist The Monthly Energy Breakfast series from the Winneshiek Energy District welcomes Kerri Johannsen from the Iowa Environmental Council to Decorah on Tuesday, May 21. Johannsen will join the local energy conversation at 7:30 AM at T-Bock’s Sports Bar and Grill and share updates from this legislative session regarding clean and local energy. Register at energydistrict.org/breakfast by May 17th. Johannsen will provide a review of activity from
Joel Zook, Energy Planner The Energy District has been closely following any developments out of the state capitol regarding MidAmerican’s attempts to do away with net-metering for solar customers as we know it. The proposed law (HF669) has already passed the Iowa Senate, but it appears to be stalled in the House for lack of support. You can learn more about the bill and its impacts, if passed, on our
Joel Zook, Energy Planner The Energy District, in partnership with the Decorah Public Library, is hosting a Carbon Footprint Workshop on April 30th at 6 pm at the Decorah Public Library. We’ll talk about how to measure your household carbon footprint and discuss ways you can reduce it through energy efficiency and renewable energy investments. We’ll also highlight our local carbon offset program, Oneota Tags, which supports the work of
Andy Johnson, Director Wait, what did you say, Alliant rates are going up? I thought they just promised us (during the debate around a municipal electric utility) that their rates would rise veeeery sloooowly for at least 20 years? We’ve heard many variants of this reaction in recent weeks, some with much more colorful language. If it weren’t so serious, we would be tempted to think the company had a
Kristin Eggen, Communications For many people in northeast Iowa, April is a time for planting, for budding trees, for shedding the layers of winter. For WED’s Green Iowa AmeriCorps team, April has meant “fundraising”. We desperately need a safe, reliable vehicle to continue helping others in Northeast Iowa. Will you read our story and make a contribution to help us reach our goal? Our Wheels, Our Work The team’s van is an
Briana Burke, Logistics Coordinator, Green Iowa AmeriCorps What can save you money, is good for the environment, creates local jobs, and is the future of energy? Solar panels! While that riddle isn’t too hard to figure out, the process of getting solar panels installed on your home can feel like an overwhelming maze. This past Saturday, over 150 people from the tri-state area took the first steps through the maze
Katherine, Gracie, and Briana of our Green Iowa AmeriCorps team recently returned from two weeks studying sustainability on the big island of Hawaii through the Green Iowa AmeriCorps Leadership in Sustainability program. The group working in the taro field, planting and cleaning taro with Kulia from Pōhāhā I Ka Lani in Waipi’o Valley. Katherine, Elena, Rachel and Gracie oiling the canoe, Mauloa, to help provide protection from the sun
So. I placed a down payment on solar last month. I’m committing to the largest purchase I’ve ever made (not counting my house). I’ve sat on the fence on this decision for some time because I don’t have the greatest location to install solar on my house. My roof faces west not south, and I have a lot of shading from a big old sycamore tree in my back yard.