Hatch seeks to boost solar energy in Iowa

DES MOINES - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jack Hatch said Monday he would like to see the solar power industry take flight as wind energy has in Iowa.

Hatch, a three-term state senator, said he would pursue an 'all of the above” energy strategy. He also said he would not have given back a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to study solar energy applications in Iowa, as the current administration did.

Last week, Gov. Terry Branstad's administration agreed to surrender a $1 million grant designed to bolster solar energy in Iowa - a move Hatch charged was due to pressure from utility company lobbyists. He said the move backed Iowa away from making a modest entry into the industry.

Hatch called on Branstad to 'reassess” his solar energy policy and to embrace last week's Iowa Supreme Court ruling, which observers believe would clear the way for third-party purchase agreements that would benefit small producers.

'The current governor is giving in to special interests in the utility industry and picking winners and losers,” Hatch said. 'That's the only reason Iowa is giving up the federal solar energy grant, and I believe we can do better.”

In response to Hatch's comments, Tommy Schultz, spokesman for the Branstad-Reynolds campaign, issued a statement defending the governor's record on renewable energy.

'Gov. Branstad has been a champion for renewable energy in Iowa and has the results to prove it,” Schultz said in a statement. 'Jack Hatch can continue to bloviate from the sidelines, but all Iowans know that the Branstad-Reynolds administration has fought to expand and protect American energy resources so that Iowans have cheaper costs at the pump, their homes and their businesses.”

l Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@sourcemedia.net