Stand Up for Iowa Distributed and Community Wind Power
The Iowa State Senate is currently considering important legislation, SF 372, which proposes to make it easier for owners of smaller scale wind energy projects to contract with utility companies at a fair market price. This would encourage local ownership of wind energy projects, which in turn increases local economic benefits of wind development.
The key provisions of the SF 372 include:
- Requires Iowa utilities to buy wind energy at a rate based on the cost of new wind development
- Applies to projects of less than 20 megawatts in size, located on agricultural land
- Creates standardized contracts that will be in effect for ten years
- Limits the utility’s annual requirement to less than 50% of the prior year’s retail sales growth
The benefits of this legislation include:
- Encourages local ownership, which in turn increases local economic benefits and energy security
- Eliminates lengthy, costly legal negotiations, thanks to standard contracts
- Diversifies Iowa’s resource portfolio
- Does not require expansion of transmission infrastructure
- Improves air quality and conserves cooling water consumption
Iowa has been a leader in wind energy development, with more than 5,100 megawatts installed today. This leadership has attracted a strong manufacturing base with good, long-term jobs. Let’s keep up the momentum by expanding this opportunity to encourage local ownership and electricity supply.
Please contact your State Senator today. Start by entering your zip code below. We have created a template email for you, but encourage you to personalize it, as your unique words will have a more lasting impact on your legislator.