By Tanya De Jesus
tdejesus@kcautv.com
It's been a breezy battle ever since the economy started taking a turn for the worst. The wind energy industry in Iowa is currently taking quite the hit and it could get even worse.
Iowa produces its electricity from wind energy more than any other state in the nation and while many are benefiting from this, the economy has slowed down this business in Iowa.
Farmer Tim Hemphill has been receiving $20,000 a year from just having two wind energy turbines on his land. But it's not just the extra cash that makes him a fan of wind energy. This entire wind farm provides electricity to 3,500 homes in Minneapolis, MN. And Hemphill says one day all of us might have to rely on this type of energy.
"I think someday even in Iowa we're going to flip a light switch and nothing is going to happen so it's cheap, renewable. No end to the energy from wind bells," said Hemphill.
But this industry that has allowed Iowa to produce 20% of its electricity is facing a challenge in our state.
Iowa Wind Energy Association member Harold Prior says a production tax credit that has boosted this industry is expiring on December of 2012. The credit is so vital that the association is asking congress to extend it 4 more years.
Prior says, "If federal congress does not extend the current production tax beyond December of 2012 is very likely that we could see a 100% decrease in other worlds a complete stop of build out of wind farms across the nation."
And if the industry comes to a stop our economy could take a huge hit.
"There's been over $5 billion of capital investment in Iowa because of this wind industry and not only do we have over 2,500 installed and operational, it's created thousands of jobs," said Prior.
Prior also says wind energy companies need the tax credit more than ever since now it costs up to 3 million dollars to install and get one turbine to work.
