Des Moines, July 16, 2015 — Iowa households and business owners can keep more money in their pockets, and Iowa farmers and other rural landowners will receive additional tens of millions of dollars in land lease payments, with expansion of the state’s drought-resistant cash crop – wind power.

That’s according to a new report, “A wind vision for new growth in Iowa,” released today by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the Wind Energy Foundation (WEF). The organizations held a roundtable discussion to discuss the findings at Des Moines Area Community College, where 70 percent of students in the Industry and Technology Department study wind-related programs. The report highlights new state-specific data from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in its recently released Wind vision: A new era for wind power in the United States.

A top takeaway of the report is that $3.6 billion in total electric bill savings are possible through 2050 as the state continues to tap Iowa’s world-class wind resource. While the state already reliably generates over 28 percent of its electricity from wind, the DOE data shows wind could supply over 40 percent of Iowa’s electricity in the next five years. It could more than triple that by 2030 – supplying enough electricity for 6.3 million average American homes, and offering a growing export product for other states to buy from Iowa.

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By 2020, five years from now, the DOE data shows that other economic and environmental benefits that Iowa would enjoy by expanding wind energy include:

Over $49 million in annual property tax revenue to Iowa’s economy

Over $19 million dollars a year in payments to farmers and other rural Iowa landowners

3.7 billion gallons of fresh water a year conserved annually, or 28.5 billion bottles’ worth

More than 6 million metric tons of carbon emissions avoided annually or 1.36 million cars’ worth of emissions

And by 2030, 15 years from now:

$136 million in annual property tax revenue to Iowa’s economy

Over 4 billion gallons of water a year conserved, or 32.3 billion bottles annually

Nearly 8 million metric tons of carbon emissions avoided or 1.66 million cars’ worth of emissions

http://www.awea.org/MediaCenter/pressrelease.aspx?ItemNumber=7713