Whenever the state of Iowa leads the nation in something, I think it's worth mentioning. And when it is something good for the environment? Even better. The state of Iowa has come in first in the nation in our use of of renewable energy sources, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. 

The rankings come from the American Clean Power Association report. It found that 57.6 percent of electricity generated in Iowa comes from renewable sources. No other state in the country had more than half of it's electricity come from renewable sources. Only Iowa. Kansas was second at 43.4 percent, followed by Oklahoma at 35.5, South Dakota at 32.9, and North Dakota at 30.8 percent. Iowa dominated neighboring states too. Illinois sits at just 9.9 percent, Missouri at 4.8, and Wisconsin at just 3.1 percent.

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The main reason Iowa ranks at the top of this list? Wind power. Iowa is one of just ten states to have more than one fifth of electricity to come from wind turbines. The Gazette reports that Iowa added 1,217 megawatts of clean power capacity in 2020. That trails only Texas, California, and Florida. A report also notes that Iowa's renewable energy businesses employ over 5,000 Iowans and have received over $21 billion in investments.

The Gazette reports that Alliant Energy opened six of it's ten wind farms in Iowa in either 2019 or 2020. It has increased it's renewable energy use from just 9.9 percent in 2018 to 43.8 percent in 2020. Mid-American Energy has 35 wind farms in the state, and in 2020 got 83.6 percent of it's electricity from renewable sources.

 

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