Report says Iowa among global leaders in wind power
(MCT) — Iowa’s has joined the world’s leading nations in its production of wind energy, a new report says, although it’s less clear how it stacks up in wind energy consumption.
Citing the Iowa Utilities Board, the report said 17 to 20 percent of all electricity generated in Iowa comes from renewable wind power.
The portion of Iowa’s electric energy mix that comes from wind is now on par with the world’s leading renewable energy nation, Iowa Policy Project Director David Osterberg said in releasing the report.
Iowa is second only to Texas among the states in wind power capacity, a feat that has been accomplished in about four years.
“We are Denmark,” Osterberg said. In fact, he said Iowa has about 3,700 megawatts of wind energy capacity compared to Denmark’s 3,400.
The Iowa Policy Project pointed out that Iowa achieved the milestone without the skyrocketing energy bills predicted by some experts wary of switching from a fossil fuelbased energy economy to one based on renewables.
The results show that “Americans need not fear taking steps to address climate change,” the report concluded.
Iowa electric rates averaged about 7 cents per kilowatt hour in 2008, compared to a national average of about 10 cents per kilowatt hour.
That favorable comparison may not last too much longer, however.
Alliant Energy will seek a double-digit rate increase this month to pay for its Whispering Willow wind farm.
MidAmerican Energy, a national leader in wind energy, has been prohibited from passing along the costs until 2014 because of a rate freeze negotiated with state regulators.
MidAmerican has more than 1,393 megawatts of wind generating facilities in operation, under construction and under contract in Iowa. It received regulatory approval in December to build another 1,001 megawatts.
The Iowa Policy Project report acknowledged that much of Iowa’s wind energy is exported to help regulated utilities in adjacent states meet renewable portfolio standards that are significantly higher than Iowa’s.
A renewable portfolio standard is essentially a mandate that utilities get a specific amount of their power from renewable sources.
Iowa utilities long ago surpassed the state’s own renewable portfolio standard of 105 megawatts.
