The Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives will be lobbying the Iowa Legislature to take steps to expand renewable energy. Brian Kading, the general manager of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives, says the RECs supported a bill last year that would have provided a production tax credit for wind generators. It didn’t pass, and Kading says they’ll support the move again this year, and press to expand the tax credit to “methane digesters.” The units convert methane gas — a byproduct of animal manure — into energy. Kading says methane digesters make a lot of sense in an agricultural state like Iowa. Kading says his association also wants a new state law to clarify that electric utilities have the same right to place utility poles in road right-of-ways as do telephone and water utilities. The Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives held its annual meeting this past week in Des Moines.
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