Ag Policy Blog

Last week, the Heritage Foundation sent Republican Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman a letter criticizing the federal Production Tax Credit for wind power and effectively crediting Nebraska for having "chosen not to mandate the production of electricity from unaffordable, unreliable sources of electricity."

The Heritage Foundation noted that conservatives oppose wind subsidies and that the group had send the same letter to 20 other governors.

In much of the mode of conservative economics, the Heritage Foundation continues to argue American society benefits by avoiding government policies that promote renewable energy, or renewable fuel for that matter. As the Heritage Foundation stated, Nebraska, "has wisely chosen to follow the most affordable and reliable forms of energy to be purchased by consumers and industries." Thus, Nebraskans shouldn't support federal tax credits for wind power, the thinking goes.

Yet, on Tuesday, another Republican governor, Iowa's Terry Branstad, was holding a press conference announcing Facebook would invest $300 million for a new data center in central Iowa, a facility that eventually could grow into a $1.5 billion investment. A new wind project also is part of the announcement.

That goes along with Google's construction of a $400 million data center just south of Council Bluffs, Iowa, just across the river from Nebraska.

On the front page of the Omaha World-Herald on Wednesday was an article asking how Iowa had beat out Nebraska for the Facebook investment. "Nebraskans looking for a reason why Facebook chose Iowa over the Cornhusker State for a $300 million data center might want to glance at the horizon.

"In Iowa, you're much more likely to see a row of wind turbines spinning away."

The World-Herald cites Iowa's renewable energy portfolio as one of the reasons the social-networking giant picked Iowa over Nebraska. Iowa draws 18% of its power from wind. Obviously, that will bump up with yet another wind project in the state. Facebook wants its facility to draw at least 25% of its power from renewable energy, such as wind, the World-Herald stated.

"That surely made some difference," Iowa's state economic-development director told the paper.

The Des Moines Register reported that high-tech companies looking to expand are getting demands from consumers and environmental groups to ensure they use more green energy. These high-tech centers, after all, demand a great deal of electrical power to operate.

“In Iowa, Facebook has chosen a location where it has great potential to power its newest data center with the wind energy that is booming there, but to do so it must show a willingness to work with Iowa’s major utility, MidAmerican Energy, to provide more clean energy to the grid,” Greenpeace Senior IT Analyst Gary Cook said in a statement, cited in the Des Moines Register.

Moreover, landowners who allow windmill farms to develop on their land gain through leases that draw far more than they collect in federal direct payments each year. Yet, Nebraska remains locked in a conflict in the state legislature and among its public-power districts over just how to expand wind power in the state. There's a great deal of push back on wind energy, despite the potential from that steady wind whispering over the Great Plains.

Omaha World-Herald article: http://www.omaha.com/…

Des Moines Register article: http://dld.bz/…

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