The evidence is in – Iowa counties with wind energy projects are stronger economically than counties without. Iowa began wind and solar development in the early 1990s, and today 62% of our electricity is generated from wind, solar and energy storage. That puts Iowa as the number one U.S. state in renewable energy electricity generation.
But this is not a story about energy – it’s a story about prosperity for us today and our children tomorrow.
Renewable energy is a catalyst for opportunity
An economist might call it diversification. I call it having more choices, for farmers, businesses, workers and the next generation of Iowans.
Having more choices means struggling family farmers have more drought-free options for income that may allow them to hold on to their farm. Attracting more types of businesses to Iowa – or enabling the expansion of those already here – means our children and grandchildren don’t have to look out-of-state when deciding where to build a career and raise a family. Having additional sources of revenue means our counties can expand critical services, like schools and roads, without having to raise taxes.
Senator Charles Grassley summed it up neatly several years ago:
“Wind is a critical part of our nation’s all-of-the-above energy strategy. It creates thousands of jobs, supports economic development, boosts tax receipts, attracts investment in our state and puts extra money in farmers’ pockets.”
Wind counties do better
Renewable energy offers Iowa the chance to keep growing and expanding. Let’s look at the proof.
The Iowa Conservative Energy Forum completed an economic study and found that Iowa counties with wind energy were doing better by several economic measures than Iowa counties without wind.
In terms of local county revenue, the tax base in wind counties grew at an annual rate of 4.61%, compared to non-wind counties at 3.51%. The annual growth achieved by wind counties was 31% higher than the non-wind counties.
County Improvements
That revenue gives counties the resources to invest more in schools, highspeed internet and important county infrastructure. You can see that when you look at county transportation spending – wind counties increased their spending on roads annually by 7.8% compared to non-wind counties.
Local Income
Having a wind energy project in your county also means more money in the pockets of the people who live there. A national study found that counties with wind increased local income by 5%, and home values by 2.6%.
Jobs
Let’s not forget jobs. Again, according to the Iowa Conservative Energy Forum, 8,961 jobs in Iowa are supported by wind energy investment and construction. Looking at Iowa’s emerging solar growth, they estimate an additional 3,238 jobs supported each year from solar.
Business growth
Former Iowa House Speaker Ron Corbett has said that:
“Access to renewable energy is a key part of a company’s decision-making process on where to locate.”
And we’re seeing the proof of that in the location or expansion plans of companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook, all who found ready access to clean power a good reason to locate and grow in Iowa.
Income for farmers
For Iowa’s farmers, land lease payments from clean energy projects totaled $70.2 million in 2022 alone. Those payments are helping save some family farms. As Renee Potts in Linn County put it,
“When we inherited the farm from our mom, leasing a small corner to solar was the only way to keep it in the family.”
Bottom Line
Supporting wind or solar energy doesn’t mean putting a panel or turbine on every acre, or even every other acre. Wind and solar farms use only a fraction of Iowa’s vast farmland, and temporarily at that. From that fraction of use comes a fountain of opportunity. With expanding opportunities and choices stemming from renewable energy development, Iowa is a better place for our families.
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