🌐 In Iowa, Wind Energy Sees No Red or Blue, Only Green

In the early 1980s, a bipartisan deal was struck in Iowa that would forever change the energy landscape. Republican Governor Terry Branstad signed a Renewable Energy Standard into law, requiring the state’s two biggest utilities to purchase some of their power from renewable sources.

Energy prices were rising, exacerbating a farm crisis affecting towns, communities, and families. Farmers were giving up their lands as their debt loads spiraled.

Leaders hoped the expansion of renewables might drive down energy prices and provide some relief.

However, Iowa didn’t have any wind turbines. While aspirations were high, action was nonexistent.

A decade later, Iowa’s Senator, Chuck Grassley, and his U.S. Senate colleagues hammered out the Wind Energy Incentives Act, establishing America's first-ever production tax credit for wind.

And then? Then, wind energy in Iowa took off.

Fast-forward to 2024. Today, Iowa, where the tall corn grows, and Kevin Costner cut out a baseball field in the middle of the corn stalks in the movie Field of Dreams, is at the epicenter of a wind energy revolution.

Iowa generated enough wind power between October 2023 and September 2024 to meet 77% of its energy demand.

Some wind energy gets exported to neighboring states, like Wisconsin and Illinois. But most of it stays put.

Which means Iowa’s grid consumes more wind energy as a percentage of total energy consumption than any other U.S. state. It’s #1. 

Wind power provides multiple economic benefits:

1. Farmers leasing land for wind turbines earn about $10,00-$15,000 per year per wind turbine. At last count, that total amounted to $72 million annually for landowners.

2. Wind energy taxes are the top revenue source for many towns and counties, funding everything from schools to police departments to road repairs. In 2022, it amounted to $60 Million.

3.  Iowa’s energy rates are now the 12th lowest in America (See U.S. Energy Information Agency Data Analysis by Stanford Professor Mark Jacobson).

4. 3,974 Iowans work in the wind industry.

To understand the profound impact of wind energy in Iowa, we turn to the town of Newton.

For a century, Newton proudly wore the title “Washing Machine Capital of the World,” thanks to Maytag. But when the appliance giant shuttered its factory in 2007, it left behind a devastating economic void. In one stroke, the company town of 16,000 people lost 2,000 jobs.

Then came the Great Recession, pushing Newton further into crisis.

Times were so tough that Scott Pelley from "60 Minutes" turned up and ran a national story on Newton titled "Anger in the Heartland."

Yet, Newton came back—with wind.

Chaz Allen was elected Mayor of Netwon in 2004. Some might call him an accidental mayor; Chaz didn’t grow up wanting to be mayor of Newton or aspiring to a career in politics.

However, in an odd twist of fate, Chaz’s disastrous, losing run for the School Board of Education the year prior gave him enough small-town name recognition for the local political power brokers to regard Chaz as their man to defeat the mayor incumbent.

Mostly, though, it came down to Chaz believing Newton should build a motor speedway while the current mayor did not.

So Chaz won.

Now pressed into action, Chaz rose to the occasion and led a relentless campaign to turn disaster into opportunity, recruiting TPI Composites to manufacture wind turbine blades and Arcosa (formerly Trinity Structural Towers) to manufacture wind turbine towers, collectively creating hundreds of much-needed jobs.

Wind energy didn't bring Newton all the way back from the brink, but the jobs that arrived made a difference in many people’s lives and their families’ lives, too.

So much so that by 2012, it was President Obama’s turn to visit Newton. This time, the out-of-town guest came bearing a message of congratulations and hope.

Today, Chaz Allen is the Executive Director of the Iowa Utility Association. On the podcast, he shares how Newton reinvented itself, diversifying its economy and laying the groundwork for 21st-century success. He also discusses the current state of Iowa's wind industry and how Iowans view all the wind blowing across their fields and farms.

We also hear from Kathy Law. She was raised an Iowa farmer and has been on farms her entire life. But in her mid-40s, Kathy made a bold career move.

She went to law school.

When Kathy graduated and joined Nyemaster Goode, P.C., Iowa’s Largest Law Firm, she set herself on a trajectory to become one of the state's foremost wind energy dealmakers.

A corporate lawyer who is also a farmer? That combination makes a ton of sense in a state intent on farming all its resources, including the wind.

Take me to the podcast:

↓

Number of the week: 110%

South Dakota generated enough wind, water, and solar power between October 2023 and September 2024 to meet 110% of its energy demand. It’s the first U.S. state to surpass 100%.

Quote of the week:

“The first developer I worked with came to Iowa to do a wind farm, and he decided to buy a house out in the country and live in the middle of the proposed wind farm, which I thought was so cool because he said, I'm asking all these neighbors and all these people to say, it's great to have turbines on your land. This is going to be a good thing. And if I don't do that, they're not going to listen to me. I'm an outsider coming in. If I'm willing to put down roots and raise my family in the middle of a wind far that gave him some credibility going in.”

“Then after he got this first project done, I mean, word travels fast in Iowa. So if a developer does not treat the landowners well and doesn't put together a good project, they're not going to develop for very long.”

— Kathy Law, an attorney at Nyemaster Good in Des Moines and a prominent Iowa wind farm dealmaker.

↓

Related Stories

Wind Energy is the Cheapest Source of Electricity in the U.S.

…And it has been for about a decade, according to investment bank Lazard, especially when clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are included in the calculation (more here).

Retired Wind Turbine Blades Find New Reinforcing Concrete and Asphalt

Iowa researchers developed a novel approach to recycle giant fiberglass turbine blades into a value-added product. Regen Fiber turns them into reinforcement fibers for concrete and asphalt, boosting strength and durability while reducing carbon impact.

Agriculture and Wind Energy Work Well Together

Economists in the US. Department of Agriculture found that 99% of cropland new near wind farms remain in agricultural production three years after set up, indicating no trade-off between powering the clean energy transition with wind and food production.

Robotic Wind Turbine Drones Streamline Maintenance

Wind farm operators are turning to robot-enabled drones for repairs, maintenance, cleaning, and general inspections. Aerones, founded in Latvia, now deploys its drones in 25 countries and services over 6,000 wind turbines.

Wind and Solar Are Now Slowing The Spread of Fossil Fuels

Wind and solar are the fastest-growing energy sources in history, a trend that is now impacting fossil fuel generation. In 2023, fossil fuel generation was 22% lower than it would have been without solar and wind power. Expect that trend to continue. 

↓

Ask Our Upcoming Podcast Guests A Question

Coming up on Supercool are conversations with:

Ritu Narayan, founder & CEO of Zum

I got very excited about Zum when I discovered that the company enabled the city of Oakland to become the nation’s first 100% EV-powered school district. Student transportation is the largest mass transit system in the U.S., transporting 27 million children to and from school daily. Working with school districts from Boston to Los Angeles, Zum’s technology platform brings the experience of driving, riding, and managing these bus systems into the 21st century.

Britta Von Oesen, Partner & Managing Director at CohnReznick Capital

CRC is an investment bank for the low-carbon world and has been North America's #1 by deal count over the past five years. The firm has executed 350 deals valued at $72 billion, totaling 123 GWs, spanning solar, wind, battery storage, and carbon capture. I’m excited to speak with Britta about the many facets of clean energy financing and the options available to companies as they build the low-carbon economy.

Have a question for Ritu or Britta?

Send it to me at [email protected] by 12/31, and I’ll incorporate it into our episode.

🌐