By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Hawkeye State has tremendous opportunity to expand on its emergence as a world leader in wind energy production – and can even do more, according to an Iowa City-based research analysis group.

“In the last two years, Iowa added 2,500 megawatts of wind turbine capacity, and now has wind capacity nearly six times the size of Iowa’s lone nuclear plant,” said David Osterberg, executive director of the Iowa Policy Project (IPP). “Our total wind-powered generation is enough to serve the electric needs of 940,000 residences – nearly 75 percent of Iowa homes.”

With up to 20 percent of its electricity produced from wind, Iowa reached the same benchmark that world leader Denmark attained recently. Iowa is second in wind power capacity only to Texas, but is far ahead on a per-capita basis, the report said. Formed in 2001, the IPP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that analyzes the state’s issues involving environment and energy policy, budgetary and economic opportunity. Through objective, nonpartisan research and public feedback on policy alternatives, IPP said it seeks to advance effective, accountable and fair government.

In the report, Osterberg and Galluzzo cited calculations from the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB), which estimates 17-20 percent of all electricity generated in Iowa comes from wind. That’s 3,670 megawatts of installed wind capacity, a 33.3 percent average wind capacity factor, and approximately 53 million megawatt hours of total electricity generation in 2008 – which Galluzzo said suggested that Iowa is “showing the way and should continue to grow as a leader.”

“Since a wind power plant cannot produce electricity when the wind does not blow, the capacity of wind turbines is large in relation to production,” the IPP report noted. “Iowa has about 7,500 megawatts of coal-powered electric plants, which produced about 75 percent of the state’s electricity in 2007. In contrast, 3,670 megawatts of wind turbines are necessary to produce 17-20 percent of Iowa’s electricity,” the report added, noting the difference between electric capacity and actual electricity production.

Amid Iowa’s massive expansion of wind power, the report said average electricity prices have remained below the national average and haven’t increased as quickly as the national average price, based on research compiled from 2005-08. In fact, the report stated Iowa has led the nation in producing clean wind power without corresponding price increases.

“Discussion of prices for Iowa electric consumers must be qualified, since the data presented are for the estimate of wind energy produced, not wind-powered electricity consumed in Iowa,” the report said.

“The percent of wind power consumed in Iowa cannot be estimated because information is unavailable on what portion of electricity from each utility fuel source serves retail load and what is sold on the wholesale market. Further, selling at wholesale as well as producing for retail has benefits for ratepayers.”
The researchers said states around Iowa require various percentages of electricity to come from renewable sources, under renewable energy standards.

“Since Iowa had the nation’s first renewable energy standard, which has long been surpassed, and is estimated to be the seventh windiest state in the nation, it is certainly shipping wind-produced electricity out of state,” the researchers said. “This also has some effect on Iowa’s low rates in the face of wind capacity additions. Regardless, the fact remains that Iowa has increased its wind power capacity primarily through efforts of one of its two investor-owned electric utilities, MidAmerican Energy Co., while that utility has been under a revenue freeze.”

According to a 2009 report from the American Wind Energy Assoc., Des Moines-based MidAmerican is top in the nation for installation of wind generation, as well as ownership of wind-powered electric generation among rate-regulated utilities. MidAmerican also has more than 1,393 megawatts of wind generating facilities in operation, under construction and under contract in Iowa.
In economic impact, the report said wind turbine-related companies have been popping up in Iowa along with turbines.

“In addition to revenue, these companies create jobs in Iowa,” the researchers concluded. “This is very important, considering that Iowa lost nearly 20,000 manufacturing jobs in 2009.”

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) said efficiency gains of 25-30 percent are possible by 2030. Moreover, previous work by the IPP and ACEEE projected 2,400-4,500 jobs could be created in Iowa by 2030 through increasing the state’s energy efficiency.