Iowa's renewable energy programs

Summary: Iowa is still dependent on fossil fuels to meet many of its energy needs, although the state has expanded its renewable energy programs to become the nation's leader in wind power.

Iowa’s nonrenewable energy sources include coal, petroleum, and natural gas, which meet most of the state’s energy needs. Renewable sources include hydropower, biomass, wind power, and solar energy. The state had one nuclear power plant until it shut it down in 2020. Most power is supplied through public utilities, municipal utilities, and rural electric cooperatives. The Iowa Utilities Board regulates the state’s public utilities. Biomass and wind power are the leading renewable energy resources. State and private agencies such as the Iowa Energy Center promote energy efficiency and renewable energy through a variety of programs.

As of 2024, Iowa energy consumption was led by natural gas, biomass, and coal. However, coal’s proportion of net electricity generation in the state has declined from 76 percent in 2008 to 25 percent in 2022. Biomass provided 254.6 trillion Btu and other renewable energy sources provided 159.8 trillion Btu. Iowa was the only non-petroleum-producing state to rank among the top five energy-consuming states; and the state ranked third in the United States in liquefied petroleum gas consumption, most of which goes toward the industrial sector. Petroleum is supplied by a variety of international and US-based sources, coal is supplied largely by Wyoming, and natural gas is supplied by Oklahoma, Texas, and Canada. The Duane Arnold Energy Center is a nuclear power plant located near the city of Palo and supplies the state’s nuclear energy. The state’s renewable energy resources include biomass, wind, solar energy, and hydroelectricity.

The investor-owned utilities Alliant Energy, Black Hills Corporation, MidAmerican Energy Company, NextEra Energy, Liberty Utilities, and ITC Midwest supply most of Iowa’s electricity and natural gas. Iowa was one of the last states to authorize a public utilities commission. The state’s Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) regulates the rates and services of public utilities, including electric, gas, telephone, telecommunication, and water utilities, as well as pipelines and underground gas storage. The IUB regulates but does not establish rates for other utilities. The Office of Consumer Advocate represents the public. Both offices fall under the Iowa Department of Commerce. The Iowa General Assembly enacted legislation designating service territories for electric utilities in 1976.

The Iowa Utility Association (IUA), a 501(c)6 nonprofit corporation headquartered in Des Moines, was founded in 1971. Its purpose is to establish a formal relationship between investor-owned utilities to address industry issues and establish statewide programs and industry public policies. The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities (IAMU) was organized in 1947 and is currently one of the largest such organizations nationwide, with a membership of more than 750 municipal utilities across the state. Its purpose includes representation of municipal utility interests in the state legislature, compliance aid, disaster assistance, and education. IAMU’s training and office complex has been globally recognized for its sustainable design.

There are also various rural electric cooperatives. Rural cooperatives have existed in Iowa since the 1930s, aided by funding from President Franklin Roosevelt’s Federal Rural Electrification Administration, part of the New Deal. Large electric companies had ignored sparsely populated rural areas up to that point. The Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives, headquartered in Des Moines, represents rural electric cooperatives statewide and works with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Groups active in sustainability initiatives include the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Energy Bureau, the Iowa Renewable Energy Association (I-Renew), Iowa Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (SEED), and the Iowa Association of Naturalists.

Renewable Energy

Key renewable energy resources in Iowa include biomass, wind, hydropower, and solar. Hydroelectricity and biomass currently supply 2 percent of the states' net electricity generation. The state has seven hydropower plants, the most productive being the Keokuk plant on the Mississippi River. Biomass energy, which involves the conversion of organic material to electricity or fuel, is also being pursued. Ethanol is one of the key by-products of biomass conversion in use in the state. Iowa was the largest producer of ethanol in the United States in 2022, with about 20 percent of the United States' fuel ethanol manufacturing capacity.

Iowa generated 62 percent of its net electricity generation from wind energy, the largest percentage in the United States in 2022. Many early 1900s Iowa farms featured windmills, but these were replaced when rural electrification programs swept through in the 1930s as part of the New Deal. The Iowa Energy Center and Iowa Wind Energy Institute created a comprehensive wind power map of the state in 1996 to revitalize this renewable energy resource. The modern wind turbines dotting the state are increasing in number, and a wind field in Buena Vista and Cherokee Counties was established in the 1990s. Municipal utility Waverly Light and Power received national recognition for its investment in the development of wind energy through the installation of wind turbines in Iowa and other parts of the Midwest. Wind provided more than one-third of Iowa's total electricity generation in 2016, representing a larger share than any other state in the country.

The state has actively pursued renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives since the late twentieth century. Iowa offers production tax credits for electricity generated by and purchased from eligible renewable-energy facilities through the Iowa Department of Revenue. The state also requires utilities to purchase certain amounts of energy from alternative sources through the 1983 Iowa Alternative Energy Production (AEP) law. The IUB launched an energy efficiency initiative in 2006. Programs include the Iowa Weatherization Challenge for residential homes of low-income, elderly, and disabled families and individuals. The IUB also participated in the 2006 creation of the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency.

The 1990 Iowa Energy Efficiency Act authorized the creation of the Iowa Energy Center (IEC), dedicated to promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy among communities, businesses, and the public through research, education, and demonstrations. Iowa State University administers the IEC, which is headquartered in Ames. IEC programs have included the development of solar maps and calculators, photovoltaic cell demonstrations, the Biomass Energy Conversion Facility (BECON), and the Energy Resource Station (ERS). The IEC also manages the Alternate Energy Revolving Loan Program (AERLP) authorized by the Iowa legislature in 1996 to aid in the construction of facilities for renewable energy production. Annual assessments on gas and electric utility revenues fund the IEC.

Bibliography

"Iowa." US Energy Information Administration, 17 Aug. 2024, www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=IA. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.

"Renewable Energy Works for Iowa." Iowa Environmental Council, 2024, www.iaenvironment.org/our-work/clean-energy/renewable-iowa. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.

"Wind Energy." Iowa Environmental Council, 2024, www.iaenvironment.org/our-work/clean-energy/wind-energy. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.