Solar Energy

Privately-owned solar benefits all utility customers:

•  By investing their own money in solar, customers save the utility from having to invest in new generation, a cost that would otherwise be paid by all customers. 

• Solar is adding low-cost energy to the grid when it is most expensive, in the hottest days and times of the year, lowering the average cost for everyone. 

• Solar can keep power steady and strong at the end of rural lines where customers may otherwise be hit with flickering lights and early equipment failure because of stress related to poor power quality. 

• Well-placed solar can help utilities avoid upgrades to lines and transformers, reducing the overall cost of delivering electricity for everyone. 

Solar energy benefits both rural and urban Iowa, with solar installations in all 99 counties.

Solar is an important complement to wind energy, producing best at peak times.

Utility solar costs have dropped 86% since 2009.

Between 2012 and 2017, Iowa's state solar tax incentives of just $21.6 million have sparked 3,395 solar projects with a total investment of more than $166 million.

Iowa has more than 800 solar jobs.

"Solar installer" is predicted to be the fastest-growing job in the U.S. between 2016 and 2026.