Days before Iowa’s straw polls, the American Wind Energy Association is sending out a message that it hopes the rest of the nation will notice: Iowa is a wind energy state.
This weekend, Iowa will hold its nationally significant straw polls for the Republican Party’s presidential primaries, which AWEA will attend.
«With Iowa standing tall as the first state to produce 20 percent of its electricity with wind power, the Straw Poll is a terrific opportunity to share the power of wind to support local economies as well as generate clean energy,» AWEA chief executive Denise Bode said.
There are several reasons for appreciating wind energy in the state according to the association.
They said Iowa has been deriving a fifth of its power from wind farms built in the state. It has also reportedly built a booming manufacturing sector for the Hawkeye State.
The association said over 200 wind-related businesses now operate in 56 Iowa counties, adding over $5 billion to the Iowa economy.
In 2010 alone, wind farm owners paid $16.5 million in property taxes and an additional $11 million in land lease payments to property owners, it added.
All of these, AWEA said, stem from good planning.
Iowa was the first state to adopt a renewable electricity standard, way back in 1983. It was signed by then first-term governor Terry Branstad, a Republican, who went back to the governorship in January, finding a much larger wind industry.
The policy required investor-owned utilities to purchase 105 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy projects. By 2001, the local government had established a higher, voluntary goal of 1,000 MW of wind power capacity by 2010.
«Iowa is reaping the economic benefits of being a wind power leader because it had the foresight to plant a seed over 20 years ago with the implementation of strong, sound policy. Iowa is showing the nation how it can be done,” Ms. Bode said.
Iowa now ranks fourth in setting up new wind farms in the United States, with a total additional capacity of 619 MW currently under construction, according to the recent second quarter report.
The state’s citizens also support the development of wind energy in their area. A recent poll conducted in Iowa indicated that a full 81 percent of voters believed that the growth of the wind industry has been good for Iowa’s economy. The voters also chose wind, by a 3-to-1 margin, as their preferred energy source to power their state.
