Iowa ranks first in renewable energy use, according to new report

Iowa’s use of renewable energy sources is the highest in the country, according to an American Clean Power Association report released Monday.

About 57.6 percent of electricity generated in Iowa came from renewable sources, according to the report.

No other state had more than half of its electricity come from renewable sources.

Kansas was the next highest state with 43.4 percent, followed by Oklahoma with 35.5 percent, South Dakota with 32.9 percent and North Dakota with 30.8 percent.

The state’s 57.6 percent towers over many of its neighbors, including Illinois at 9.9 percent, Missouri with 4.8 percent and Wisconsin with 3.1 percent.

Iowa is one of 10 states to have more than one-fifth of electricity come from wind turbines.

The state added 1,217 megawatts of “clean power capacity” in 2020, the report said, which is the fourth-most behind Texas, California and Florida.

Iowa’s renewable energy sector also employed 5,210 workers and has received almost $21 billion in investments, according to the Clean Power Annual.

Alliant Energy opened six of its 10 wind farms operating in Iowa in 2019 or 2020, according to its website, and has increased its renewable energy use from 9.9 percent in 2018 to 43.8 percent in 2020.

Des Moines-based MidAmerican Energy has 35 wind farms in the state, according to its website, and 83.6 percent of its electricity in 2020 came from renewable sources.

Doug Neumann, the executive director of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, said the state’s push toward renewable energy “will bring huge benefits” for attracting businesses.

“More and more companies are looking to locate in communities where they can meet their renewable energy commitments, and Iowa communities are attracting business for that very reason,” Neumann said in a news release.

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