Andy Johnson, Executive Director The Clean Energy Districts of Iowa was invited to join USDA Rural Development leaders in presenting at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Rural Development Conference in Ireland. The theme of the September OECD gathering was “Building Sustainable, Resilient, and Thriving Rural Places”. CEDI Executive Director Andy Johnson discussed the universal-local Energy District model, and the Energy District’s partnership in implementing USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program,
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
Air source heat pumps powered by electricity (from here on out referred to as heat pumps) and used in conjunction with propane furnaces or as standalone units have significant operational and carbon savings benefits compared to only using propane. Compared to electric resistance heating, air source heat pumps are significantly cheaper to run. And compared to natural gas, heat pumps have comparable operating costs but significant carbon savings benefits.
by Paul Cutting, Energy Planner High energy bills are expected this year. (Read this article for an analysis of why.) What can you do to get ready? First of all, go after all the low hanging fruit like air sealing and making sure your furnace is in good working order. Generally speaking, the biggest sources of air intrusion/extrusion through a house are the basement and attic. In the basement, make
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.