olks in Iowa remember the days, not that long ago, when the last thing on their mind was the source of their electricity.
       These days, for a large number of Iowans, the source of that electrical energy is at the forefront of their thinking.
      No one thinks about it more than Gov. Chet Culver, who as chairman of the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition is pushing his state and the 49 others to harness the power of the wind as much as possible.
      On March 16, Culver and Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri, the coalition’s vicechair, released “Great Expectations: The Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition’s 2010 Recommendations.”
       The recommendations cover a wide array of wind-energy policy initiatives that address the governors’ top priorities: green economic development, job creation and energy security. The bipartisan coalition comprises 30 governors.
       The proposal calls upon Congress and the White House to support several actions:

• Adopt a renewable electricity standard for the nation.
• Develop a new interstate electric transmission system infrastructure as needed to provide access to renewable energy resources both onshore and offshore.
• Support coastal, deepwater and offshore wind-energy technology and transmission research and development.
• Streamline permitting processes for both offshore and onshore wind-energy development projects.
• Expand the U.S. Department of Energy’s work with the states and the wind industry to accelerate innovation.
• Expand the Treasury Department Grant Program in lieu of the Investment Tax Credit and adopt a long-term renewable energy production tax credit with provisions to broaden the pool of eligible investors.

      Culver is such a big advocate of national wind-energy promotion because he has seen the rapid rise and payoff of this industry at home. According to the American Wind Energy Association, Iowa is now the second-largest producer of wind energy in the U.S., with 3,670 megawatts of installed capacity. Iowa now ranks ahead of California and trails only Texas.
      Iowa leads the nation in wind generation as a percentage of total power output at 17 to 20 percent of the electricity generated in the state. For more than a decade, Iowa has worked to attract companies that build turbines to harness the wind’s power.
      Iowa lies at the heart of a 12-state region that attracts approximately $5.7 billion a year in capital investment in the wind industry. More than 200 Iowa companies in 26 counties now supply the wind industry, generating more than $50 million in new revenue for Iowa companies annually. Iowa-based Mid-American Energy, with 1,858 megawatts, owns more wind turbines than any other investor-owned electric utility in the nation.
      The Iowa Power Fund and Iowa Office of Energy Independence, created by the Iowa Legislature in 2007, provide a $100-million grant resource to promote the goals of Iowa energy independence.
      Statewide, some 78 wind installations employ at least 2,300 people. Major investors in this sector in Iowa include Clipper Windpower in Cedar Rapids; John Deere Wind in Johnston; Siemens Power Generation in Fort Madison; Acciona Energy in West Branch; TPI Composites in Newton; Trinity Structural Towers in Newton; and Goian North America in Akeny.
      The most recent large investment in this sector came from NextEra Energy Resources LLC in Story City — a $20-million, 60,000-sq.-ft. (5,574-sq.-m.) expansion of manufacturing and distribution warehouse space for wind turbines.
      Joe Jongewaard, project manager for industrial wind projects for the Iowa Department of Economic Development, tells Site Selection that, after a downturn in the wind sector caused by tight credit, “Iowa is seeing the beginning tremors of recovery that the wind industry is experiencing. Component manufacturing is driven by how many turbines are erected. We are seeing a rebirth of development in projects going under construction or almost to the phase of construction.”       This wasn’t always the case in Iowa. In the spring of 2005, the first wind manufacturer located in Iowa when Clipper Windpower landed in Cedar Rapids. “Since then, we have had eight companies commit here,” says Jongewaard. “The amount of our installed power in 2009 went from 3,000 megawatts to 3,600 megawatts. We added 600 megawatts of wind power in a down market, and that is pretty darn good.”
      Jongewaard points out that manufacturers “want to be located close to where their equipment is installed. That is because of the size of components and how expensive they are to transport. The cost of transportation is the largest line item in the cost of an installed wind turbine. If you can impact that cost positively, you create a market advantage.”
      He says Iowa’s goal is to be “the first state to meet its bogey assigned by the Department of Energy — 20 percent wind by 2030. To get there, we will need 12,000 to 15,000 megawatts of wind-power capacity in Iowa. We believe we can hit that goal, and we have mapped out our benchmarks. We have already surpassed our 2010 benchmark for wind energy capacity, and we are very close to the 2015 benchmark.”
      Jongewaard says Sioux City and Manley are both very close to landing new plants in the wind-energy supply chain. “NextEra Energy has already invested $2 billion into wind farms in Iowa” — and that investment serves as a magnet for component manufacturers.
      He adds that the key to moving the state forward in this industry is the ability to meet the intensive logistics requirements of manufacturers. “In this industry, it is logistics, logistics, logistics,” he notes. “We believe that at least another eight companies will locate in Iowa over the next three or four years and create at least another 1,000 jobs.”
      Among the areas actively targeting those companies right now are Council Bluffs, the Quad Cities and the Iowa Lakes Corridor.