RPS Iowa
(Last updated July 1st, 2004)

RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARDS—STATE SUMMARY

STATE: IOWA

I. POLICY
II. ADMINISTRATION
III. FINANCING
IV. CRITICAL ELEMENTS
V. POLICY/PROGRAM ASSESSMENT
VI. PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

I. POLICY

Date Enacted
1983

Effective Date

February 9, 1997

Time Period
Indefinite

Extensions to Time Period
not applicable

Applicable Laws, Orders, and Regulations
Code of Iowa (2001) 476.41-476.45
Alternate Energy Production Facilities
http://www.legis.state.ia.us/IACODE/2001SUPPLEMENT/476

Description

Iowa’s Alternative Energy Production law is the earliest instance of an RPS-type policy in the U.S. The law, passed in 1983, is a capacity-based standard requiring investor-owned utilities to purchase a shared total of 105 MW (averaged) of capacity each year from renewable energy generators. This is a fixed total of 105 MW, not an incremental total that is added to each year. Iowa code states that the utilities board within the utilities division of the Department of Commerce shall allocate the one hundred five megawatts based upon each utility's percentage of the total Iowa retail peak demand of all utilities subject to the legislation. However, because the law did not include enforcement provisions, a series of legal challenges delayed implementation until Iowa set February 9, 1997, as the deadline for the utilities to sign contracts with renewable developers.

Program Name
Alternative Energy Law

Standard
105 MW of alternative energy capacity statewide
As of 1997 this standard was being met as follows:

Eligibility Date
No eligibility date is specified. Renewable generation is now obtained from existing sources, making it unlikely that new renewable resources will be developed in Iowa under the Alternative Energy Law.

Generation Limit
Notwithstanding the one hundred five megawatt maximum, the board may increase the amount of power that a utility is required to purchase at the rates established pursuant to section 476.43 if the board finds that a utility, including a reorganized utility, exceeds its 1990 Iowa retail peak demand by twenty percent and the additional power the utility is required to purchase will encourage the development of alternate energy production facilities and small hydro facilities.

Fuels/Technologies
Alternate energy production facility includes:
·        Solar
·        Wind turbine
·        Waste management
·        Resource recovery
·        Refuse-derived fuel
·        Agricultural crops or residues
·        Wood burning facilities

II. ADMINISTRATION

Administering Entities
Iowa Utilities Board
http://www.state.ia.us/government/com/util/util.html

Type of Entity
State

Administrative Contacts
John Pearce
Iowa Utilities Board
350 Maple Street
Des Moines, IA 50319
Phone: (515) 281-5679
Fax: (515) 281-5329
E-Mail: john.pearce@iub.state.ia.us

III. FINANCING

Funding Level
not applicable

Funding Source
Charges included in rate base

Cost Cap
not applicable

Charge
The board shall require electric utilities to enter into long-term contracts to purchase or wheel electricity from alternate energy production facilities or small hydro facilities located in the utility's service area under the terms and conditions that the board finds are just and economically reasonable to the electric utilities' ratepayers, are nondiscriminatory to alternate energy producers and small hydro producers. The rates shall be established at levels sufficient to stimulate the development of alternate energy production and small hydro facilities in Iowa and to encourage the continuation of existing capacity from those facilities. The board may adopt individual utility or uniform statewide facility rates.

IV. CRITICAL ELEMENTS

Trading
Trading programs are not created under the legislation.

Green Pricing
Eligibility of renewable energy obtained through green pricing programs is not addressed by the legislation. In July 2001 Iowa Governor Thomas Vilsack signed into law a bill (HF 577) requiring all electric utilities operating in the state, including those not regulated by the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB), to offer green power options to their customers, beginning January 1, 2004.

Certification
Creation of renewable energy certificates is not addressed by the legislation.

Out-of-State
Utilities may purchase or wheel electricity from alternate energy production facilities or small hydro facilities located in the utility's service area.

Self-generation
Eligibility of customer-generated renewable energy is not addressed by the legislation.

Flexibility
An alternate energy revolving loan fund created in the office of the treasurer of state is administered by the Iowa energy center. Moneys in the fund shall be used to provide loans for the construction of alternate energy production facilities or small hydro facilities as defined in section 476.42. A facility shall be eligible for no more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) in loans outstanding at any time under this program. Each loan shall be for a period not to exceed twenty years, shall bear no interest, and shall be repayable to the fund created under this section in installments as determined by the Iowa energy center.

V. POLICY/PROGRAM ASSESSMENT

Reporting Requirement
Iowa Code does not provide specific reporting requirements for the mandated purchase of alternative energy.

Assessing Entity
Iowa Utilities Board

Report Date
not applicable

Report Name
not applicable
Annual reports of the Iowa Utilities Board may be accessed at http://www.state.ia.us/government/com/util/util.html

Status
Iowa has satisfied its RPS requirements. This requirement was a capacity-based standard requiring investor-owned utilities to purchase a shared total of 105 MW of capacity each eyar from renewable energy generators.

Cost Information
Not available

Assessment Contact
John Pearce
Iowa Utilities Board
350 Maple Street
Des Moines, IA 50319
Phone: (515) 281-5679
Fax: (515) 281-5329
E-Mail: john.pearce@iub.state.ia.us

VI. PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

Press Releases
http://www.state.ia.us/government/com/util/newsrelease.html

Outreach/Customer Education
Iowa Department of Natural Resources—Renewable Energy Resources Guide
http://www.state.ia.us/dnr/energy/pubs/irerg/index.htm