Month: April 2023

Luke Frederick, GIA Audit Coordinator

On April 15, the Winneshiek Energy District was joined by a collection of eager volunteers to plant tree saplings. Every year, the Winneshiek Energy District, in collaboration with Kevin and Leslie Sand, hosts a tree planting event for residents in the Decorah area. By signing up, a resident can qualify for several species of free trees and the team will plant the trees for them. The tree species we offered this year were swamp white oak, hackberry, and kentucky coffee. So far, we’ve planted 19 trees and are waiting for approval to plant a few more. 

The Winneshiek Energy District first began discussing a tree planting event in late February. We drafted a press release, the sign up form, and flier and the GIA team was introduced to Kevin Sand who received saplings from the State Forestry Nursery. On the 20th, we were ready to start accepting clients. The press release was posted on Decorah Now. For a week, we watched the number of requests trickle in. Then, over the weekend, the requests were piling in fast. Too fast. We gathered so many requests that we feared we’d be overwhelmed. We closed the form on the 31st of March and ended up with 19 responses and over 30 trees to plant. 

The next day, we began to site the trees. Unfortunately, not everyone had an appropriate planting space, so our total number of trees dwindled until we reached 24. After siting, we arranged for the Iowa One Call to visit each property and check the gas, water, and electrical lines. We then got a hold of Sam Hogensen, the Decorah City Forester, and asked him about the rules for planting trees on the boulevard. He said we needed approval so we let the homeowners fill out the form.

We gathered at Kevin’s shop at 7:30 in the morning on the 15th of April. It was a cool, cloudy day with a high chance for rain. We took inventory, assigned teams, and planned routes. At 8:30, a loud crack of thunder resounded in the sky and the rain fell. The thunder was the starting pistol and the race to beat the rain was on. We gathered into our assigned trucks and headed in our separate ways. 

Without Kevin Sand, this event would not have been possible. Kevin is a tree planting enthusiast, who once more lent us his knowledge, time, and resources so that we could plant free trees for residents in the Decorah area. He taught the current GIA team and many volunteers how to site, dig, and plant a tree to maximize the numerous benefits it can provide and as well to care for it as it matures. His motto, “Plant until you’re planted” resonates deeply as the trees we all assisted in planting will be enjoyed by generations long after our time. 

We’d also like to thank the many volunteers who took part in the planting. Without them, the Winneshiek Energy District would not have been able to plant as many trees this year and as efficiently. 

Click here for 2023 Tree Planting Instructions

Jim Martin-Schramm, WED Board Member

Every five years the large rate-regulated utilities in Iowa have to propose energy efficiency plans for their customers that are reviewed by the Iowa Utilities Board in dockets that are open to the public.  The Clean Energy Districts of Iowa (CEDI) will be intervening in each of these dockets over the course of this year.

The least expensive energy is the energy we don’t need to produce, hence the Iowa Legislature’s decision many years ago to require that the largest utility companies in Iowa help their customers consume less energy.  Given the high cost of energy, energy efficiency also helps reduce the higher energy burdens faced by low-income households.

The five-year energy efficiency plans that are approved by the IUB are funded by the ratepayers, not by the utilities.  Each ratepayer pays a very small fee for each kilowatt hour or therm of energy they purchase each month.  The utility collects this money and then uses it to administer its energy efficiency programs and to provide customers with the incentives that are approved by the IUB.  

Since investments in energy efficiency result in fewer sales to their customers, utilities don’t have a great incentive to help their customers save too much energy.  Hence the need for others like CEDI to make sure these plans are as robust as possible and to ensure that they are being promoted well.

CEDI will focus on the following topics in each of these dockets:

1. Complementarity with the Energy Efficiency Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).  CEDI has published fact sheets that highlight ways US taxpayers can take advantage of the various incentives in the IRA to invest in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles. Ideally, the incentives offered by the utilities will complement these federal incentives and thus accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient technologies like heat pumps for space heating and cooling as well as hot-water heating.  CEDI will advocate especially for higher rebate incentives for cold-climate heat pumps.
2. Provision of High-Quality Technical Assistance to All Ratepayers.  Energy systems are complicated, involve different kinds of technology, and often are quite expensive to change.  High-quality, in-person technical assistance can help homeowners, businesses, and farmers navigate this complexity so that they can make wise investment decisions that will save them money and reduce emissions over the long term.  Currently, such in-person and high-quality assistance is only being offered to the largest customers.  CEDI believes all customers have a right to such assistance.
3. Increased Funding and More Effective Assistance for Low-Income Households.  A shocking percentage of Iowa households live at or near the federal poverty level.  For example, Alliant Energy reports that nearly 25% of the ~411,000 households they serve have household incomes that are 0-200% of the federal poverty level.  Another 18% of the households they serve have incomes that range from 200-300% of the federal poverty level.  Despite these facts, only 7% of the company’s proposed five-year energy efficiency plan is focused on the needs of these households with much higher energy burdens.  CEDI will argue that more funds be spent on low-income households and in more successful ways than they are spent currently.

IUB review of Alliant’s application for approval of their next five-year energy efficiency plan has already begun (EEP-2022-0150).  Here are links to CEDI’s Direct Testimony and related Exhibits as well as links to CEDI’s Rebuttal Testimony and Exhibits in this docket.

IUB review of Mid-American Energy Company’s proposed plan (EEP-2022-0156) will begin in June, and the review of Black Hills Energy’s proposed plan (EEP-2022-0225) will begin in the fall.  CEDI testimony in these dockets will be filed later this year.  Use the links above to locate CEDI’s filings in these dockets.

Energy efficiency is a great example of “green meeting green.”  Energy efficiency puts more money in our pockets and reduces our consumption of fossil fuels, which produce greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.