DES MOINES — Iowa is among the nation’s leaders in wind energy production, and the state is looking to follow suit with solar power, but Congress has eliminated the tax incentives that help solar farmers grow the industry.
Iowa has worked with landowners to install wind turbines on thousands of acres of farmland, and has boosted its solar power-generating capacity from a scant two megawatts to nearly 350 in the last decade, but the new federal budget rolls back the incentives that help farmers make these investments.
Solar Energy Industries Association senior vice president of policy Sean Gallagher says the change will have consequences for the renewable energy industry – not just in Iowa, but nationwide. “It has really devastating impacts,” said Gallagher, “not just to the solar industry, but to American energy security and national security. Solar energy is putting more new power on the grid than every other fuel source combined in the last several years.”
Iowa’s 6,000 wind turbines create more than 12,000 megawatts of power, accounting for the largest source of energy production in the state. While wind and solar power have proven successful in Iowa, the political landscape – both in Des Moines and Washington, D.C. – has become less supportive of giving tax breaks to help people make the investment.
Gallagher says the current local and national political climate appears to favor fossil fuels over non-traditional energy sources, despite the economic benefits of wind and solar power. “Every dollar spent on clean energy tax credits has a $2.67 return,” said Gallagher, “in the form of lower energy costs for consumers, and taxes paid by clean energy infrastructure projects – mostly property taxes.”
Iowa and other states are now faced with the prospect of trying to invest in solar energy and other renewable power sources without federal encouragement to do so.
