Recent editorials published in Iowa newspapers
Just five months ago, anxious Muscatine County residents crowded the Wilton Community Center and heard a MidAmerican Energy executive outline the prospects for a new nuclear power plant. The company was assessing options for a nuclear plant in their backyard.
Fast forward to August when MidAmerican has dropped that nuclear assessment and earmarked $1.9 billion for wind energy generators in many backyards across Iowa.
Work commences in September on 448 turbines in Grundy, Madison, Marshall, O'Brien and Webster counties, creating 460 construction jobs, then 48 permanent jobs. Those turbines will churn out $12 million a year in property tax from those backyards and generate $3.2 million annually for their property owners. Call them YIMBYs: Yes in my backyard.
This comes in a state where the energy firm already spent $4 billion on 1,257 turbines since 2004.
Of course, that's ratepayers' money, invested with Iowa Utility Board approval on a form of energy that far surpasses every other type of electrical generation in Iowa. Wind generates more than coal, more than natural gas and four times more energy in Iowa than nuclear power.
This sustainable transformation comes as Iowa experiences tremendous growth in energy dependent industries, such as Google's $1 billion Iowa data centers, which includes a $75 million stake in nearby wind turbine project.
And yes, this sustainable energy is subsidized with favorable tax treatment, incentives for turbine makers and incentives to MidAmerican. Those incentives give Iowa more choices than power plants with towering smokestacks or concrete cylinders of nuclear waste.
We're glad MidAmerican chose to make a major stake in Iowa wind energy. And we're thankful to Iowans willing to live in the shadow of these turbines in their backyards.
Fast forward to August when MidAmerican has dropped that nuclear assessment and earmarked $1.9 billion for wind energy generators in many backyards across Iowa.
Work commences in September on 448 turbines in Grundy, Madison, Marshall, O'Brien and Webster counties, creating 460 construction jobs, then 48 permanent jobs. Those turbines will churn out $12 million a year in property tax from those backyards and generate $3.2 million annually for their property owners. Call them YIMBYs: Yes in my backyard.
This comes in a state where the energy firm already spent $4 billion on 1,257 turbines since 2004.
Of course, that's ratepayers' money, invested with Iowa Utility Board approval on a form of energy that far surpasses every other type of electrical generation in Iowa. Wind generates more than coal, more than natural gas and four times more energy in Iowa than nuclear power.
This sustainable transformation comes as Iowa experiences tremendous growth in energy dependent industries, such as Google's $1 billion Iowa data centers, which includes a $75 million stake in nearby wind turbine project.
And yes, this sustainable energy is subsidized with favorable tax treatment, incentives for turbine makers and incentives to MidAmerican. Those incentives give Iowa more choices than power plants with towering smokestacks or concrete cylinders of nuclear waste.
We're glad MidAmerican chose to make a major stake in Iowa wind energy. And we're thankful to Iowans willing to live in the shadow of these turbines in their backyards.
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