Culver Signs Iowa Power Fund Bill
Culver traveled to the Iowa State University campus today to sign legislation establishing the Iowa Power Fund - a $100 million effort over four years designed to make Iowa the nation's renewable energy leader. He will make a similar stop at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls to sign the companion bill setting up the funding mechanism.
"This will be the first time in our state's history that we have a coordinated energy plan that will look short-term and long-term," Culver said at this morning's ceremony.
The fund is designed to forge an energy plan for Iowa and inject $100 million of state funds into researching and developing technological breakthroughs in the burgeoning field of "Iowa-grown" renewable energy over the next four years.
"We are going to do for biomass what George Washington Carver did for the peanut, and it won't be for peanuts," said Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy.
House File 918 calls for creating a free-standing state office of energy independence to be guided by a director appointed by the governor. It also establishes an 18-member board to review and approve applications for research grants from the $25 million yearly funding pool and requires the director to develop an Iowa energy independence plan to present to lawmakers by next session. The funding was contained in House File 927.
Supporters predicted Iowans would see economic growth and jobs created as a result of the legislation. They said lawmakers have been advised that the $100 million investment could leverage $1 billion in private sector and federal matches.
However, detractors said the energy plan was being funded with money that should have gone to the Senior Living Trust or expanded health care. They questioned whether a government investment in renewable energy was needed given the fact that ConocoPhillips recently gave Iowa State University $22.5 million over eight years to develop new biofuel technologies, and developments already are under way by Clipper Windpower PLC of Cedar Rapids and Siemans Power Generation in Fort Madison.
Critics also contended the Power Fund concept was a "$100 million grab bag" cooked up by Culver during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign that was "poorly designed and poorly developed" by negotiators without common-sense controls.
