Report: Energy Roadmap would bring 7,300 Iowa jobs by 2030

Midwestern states would gain 85,700 new jobs by 2030 from hitting renewable energy and energy efficiency targets recommended by the Midwestern Governors Association, according to a study released Wednesday, July 20, by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The study, A Bright Future for the Heartland: Powering the Midwest Economy With Clean Energy, estimates the benefits of meeting goals set by the group of 10 Midwestern governors. Those goals are to produce 30 percent of the Midwest's electricity from renewable energy by 2030 and invest in energy efficiency technologies to reduce power consumption by at least 2 percent annually beginning by 2015.

Iowa would gain nearly 7,300 jobs by 2030, the report says, on top of jobs already being created by various state policies stimulating alternative energy and efficiency.

Added investments due to the goals would yield $520 million in new annual income by 2030 and $460 million per year in new gross state product, the report said.

Wind and renewable energy advocates have been pushing for states to set new goals, often called renewable portfolio standards, for use of renewables or energy efficiency.

The Iowa Wind Energy Association announced last month in Cedar Rapids that it supports tripling Iowa's wind power by 2020 by 2020 and sextupling it by 2030.

Opponents have argued that increasing use of renewables will require utilities to raise electric rates, resulting in a consumer backlash.

Likely Iowa voters prefer wind energy over other sources of electricity by a wide margin, according to a May survey of 400 likely Iowa voters by Public Opinion Strategies for the American Wind Energy Association.

Fifty-one percent of Iowans listed wind as their top choice for electrical generation, followed distantly by natural gas (15 percent) nuclear (13 percent) solar (8 percent) coal (5 percent) and oil (2 percent) in the survey.

Wind energy had far less appeal among Republican voters than Democrats or independents. Only 33 percent of Republicans picked wind compared to 52 percent of independents and 67 percent of Democrats. Republicans leaned more heavily than others toward nuclear power (24 percent) and natural gas (17 percent).

Reducing electric demand would be a big part of the equation proposed in the Energy Roadmap. By reaching the energy efficiency targets, the report says Iowa would reduce elctricity use by the equivalent of four new 600 megawatt coal plans by 2030.

The study projects that annual consumer electricity prices would be 4.4 percent lower and natural gas prices would bo 0.8 percent lower on average from 2010 to 2030 if the Energy Roadmap targets are reached. It argues that the costs of investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency would be offset by savings due to reduced energy consumption and.

Residential energy savings are projected to  reach $75 by 2020 and $226 by 2030.

The report projects lower job creation in Iowa for an "alternative technology pathway" that would rely less on wind energy and more on other renewable sources such as burning switchgrass or other biomass fuel in power plants. The alternative would yield 5,400 jobs, or 1,900 fewer jobs, by 2030. It would also result in more modest income gains of $270 million instead of $420 million.