The Winneshiek Energy District (WED) in northeast Iowa received a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) in 2014 to build out a program aimed at helping farmers reduce their on-farm energy use. Now, eight years later, the project has received a leadership award from the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) for its ongoing energy planning work.
WED’s CIG project retooled the existing framework that NRCS uses to assist farmers with traditional conservation planning to help farmers accelerate their transition to clean energy. “The core of the project was to say ‘look, let’s use the planning model that already exists and apply it to farmers and energy,’” says Andy Johnson, executive director of the WED. “By collaborating with local NRCS offices we offered comprehensive energy planning to over 60 operations.”
Under Johnson’s leadership, the CIG project was successful in piloting the energy planning framework. At least half of participating operations were able to implement some sort of energy-saving project, including transitioning to solar or improving the energy efficiency on their farms. Perhaps the most meaningful indicator of the project’s success is that WED has continued its work long after the CIG funding sunset, with Johnson and his team offering energy planning for farmers across northeast Iowa.
“The impact of the project has gone beyond just those operations that we work with” explains Johnson. “We’re having quite a flywheel of momentum; when other farmers see the positive impact of these energy projects nearby, there’s more talk and more interest in energy efficiency and solar projects.”
To learn more about the MEEA winners and hear their stories, visit the MEEA Conference website.