Enacted in 1983, Iowa’s Alternative Energy Law (AEL) requires the state’s two investor owned utilities, MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy Interstate Power and Light, to procure 105 megawatts (MW) of renewable generating capacity.
Qualifying sources include solar, wind, landfill gas, biomass, hydroelectric, municipal solid waste, and anaerobic digestion.
The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) has portioned the requirement between the two utilities based on the percentage of their combined peak loads. MidAmerican Energy is required to generate 55.2 megawatts (52.57 percent of demand) and Alliant Energy Interstate Power and Light must generate 49.8 megawatts (47.43 percent of demand).
In 2007, the IUB allowed trading of renewable energy credits (RECs) to fulfill the mandate. In 2001 former Gov. Tom Vilsack added a voluntary goal of 1,000 megawatts of wind power by 2010.
Source: Database for State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency