Iowa benefits from wind energy, not coal

By David Osterberg ----------

Renewable energy gets a lot of attention at election time, but there is so much more we can do.

While both candidates for Iowa governor voiced support for renewables in their last debate, there was some dispute on energy policy.

Iowa is now among leaders worldwide in renewable energy, with about

20 percent of the electricity produced here coming from wind. It creates jobs in companies that now make turbines, towers and blades that light our homes and allow us all to breathe easier.

Yet, coal-fired electric plants still dominate. More than 60 percent of all Iowa-produced electricity comes from this dirty source. Would we be better off burning more coal?

No. Iowa is better because IPL/Alliant Energy decided against expanding its Marshalltown coal plant. Although the media has ignored it, Alliant has acknowledged customers benefitted because the company did not build a new coal plant.

According to Alliant President Tom Aller, in testimony before the Iowa Utilities Board, customers will pay less per kilowatt hour in 2012 than they would have if the plant had been expanded and begun producing electricity. It is currently relatively cheap for utilities to buy electricity from other suppliers in the Midwest, so by building a plant of its own, the company would have faced higher costs that customers would have had to pay.

Thus, not only do we get cleaner air in Iowa, but the utility's customers will save money.

Furthermore, as Aller has pointed out, Alliant's decision to cancel the Marshalltown project, combined with the slack market for purchased power, gives the company the flexibility to defer major generating investments until the current uncertainty over proposed federal carbon regulations can be resolved. This flexibility will ultimately work to the long-term benefit of customers.

Recent investments in Iowa's electricity production capacity have mainly been to develop wind power. Becoming the nation's leading wind electricity producer per capita has not led to huge cost increases for consumers. It is true that Alliant has asked for a rate increase, but only about one-quarter of that increase is to pay for its new wind farm. Iowa electric rates remain low compared to the rest of the nation.

Iowa has gained from not building a coal plant and instead investing in clean, secure and renewable wind-produced electricity. And there is room for us to produce even more electricity from wind and other renewable sources such as solar panels.

There is not room in Iowans' budgets or our lungs for more coal.

David Osterberg is Executive Director, Iowa Policy Project, in Iowa City. Comments: dosterberg@iowapolicyproject.org