Grassley gave his comments at a ground breaking ceremony for the Top of Iowa Wind Farm. The 80 megawatt wind farm will be located in Worth County and is scheduled to begin operating by Dec. 31, 2001. When operational, the farm will generate enough electrical power for approximately 40,000 homes. Alliant Energy has purchased the power that will be produced by the wind farm.
"Wind, unlike most energy sources, is an efficient and environmentally safe form of energy production," said Grassley. "The Top of Iowa Wind Farm will certainly make valuable contributions to maintaining cleaner air and a cleaner environment."
Iowa is one of the leading wind energy producing states in the country, Grassley said. The state ranks tenth in the nation for wind energy potential, but is currently third in terms of installed wind capacity. The Top of Iowa Wind Farm joins three other wind power projects ready to go online in Iowa this year. There are 20 wind facilities currently online in Iowa.
Grassley cited the economic contributions that this wind farm will make to the community, such as long-term emission free energy to Alliant Energy and its customers, and annual payments to landlords. Iowa's wind farms already pay more than $640,000 per year to landowners, he said.
"It's a wise investment," Grassley said. "Instead of being held captive by the prevailing winds of foreign affairs in the Middle East, consumers need access to domestically produced, pollution-free source of energy. Iowa and the Midwest may soon be considered the Saudi Arabia of wind energy."
Grassley has long been a champion of alternative energy sources. In 1993, he authored the first-ever bill to give wind as an alternative energy source the ability to compete against traditional, finite energy sources. This year, Grassley introduced the Bipartisan Renewable, Efficient Energy with Zero Effluent (BREEZE) Act to extend the wind energy production tax credit until 2007. The current tax credit is set to expire on Jan. 1, 2002.
Since the inception of the wind energy production tax credit in 1993, more than 1,128 megawatts of generating capacity have been put online across the country. This generating capacity powers nearly 300,000 homes, or 750,000 people. More than 900 megawatts of new wind energy capacity were added last year, bringing wind energy generating capacity in the United States to more than 2,500 megawatts.