Nathaniel was with the Council as Energy Policy Specialist from 2007-2018. During his time with IEC, he researched and advocated for policies to expand solar, wind, transmission and energy efficiency, and coordinated the Council’s coalition of allies on energy and climate issues.
Prior to the Council, Nathaniel worked on low-income housing and tenant advocacy in the Twin Cities, and managed a large vegetable truck farm in southern Minnesota. Nathaniel has a B.A. from Earlham College and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law.
Blog posts by this Author:
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Alliant's 2019 Rate Case: Time to Kick Expensive Coal
The Iowa Environmental Council and Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) filed testimony from five expert witnesses last week identifying a wide range of significant concerns with Alliant's proposal. One of our biggest findings: coal no longer makes economic sense in Iowa.
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Council Filed Testimony in Support of Alliant Wind Proposal
Iowa Environmental Council supports Alliant wind proposal with testimony and encourages more wind and solar in Iowa.
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Iowa Wind Projects Get Longer Life and Produce More Energy with Repowering
Last week, the Iowa Utilities Board issued an order approving a proposal by MidAmerican Energy to repower up to 1,000 megawatts of wind turbines in Iowa built approximately 10 years ago. Repowered wind turbines generate more clean energy for Iowa and will do so far a longer period of time, compared to turbines that are not repowered.
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Record-breaking Month for Renewable Energy in the U.S.
The Department of Energy released information about this milestone earlier in June. The DOE expects renewables to meet or exceed 10% of U.S. electricity in April as well and we should see data on this released in July.
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Iowa Utilities Board Approves Net Metering Pilot Programs
On May 4th, the Iowa Utilities Board approved the revised net metering pilot programs from MidAmerican and Alliant Energy. The approval concludes a long process to improve the pilot program proposals and kicks off the beginning of pilot programs intended to expand distributed renewable energy and collect data needed to inform any future policy changes.
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New Rules Improve Connecting Renewable Energy
The Iowa Utilities Board has adopted new interconnection rules, which are now being followed by rate-regulated utilities Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy. The Iowa Environmental Council partnered with the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) to provide comments throughout the rulemaking process.
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New Report Indicates Exciting Growth for Iowa Wind Energy
The American Wind Energy Association has released a major study analyzing the economic impacts of wind energy growth between 2017 and 2020. Iowa is expected to be among the top 3 states by 2020 in every economic indicator examined.
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IEC and Coalition File Petition to Fix Alliant Net Metering Pilot
The Iowa Environmental Council and a coalition of state and national groups have filed a petition with the Iowa Utilities Board to reconsider any approval of an Alliant Energy pilot program for net metering.
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Wind Energy Generates Big Benefits for Iowa Counties
We have looked at four counties in some detail where wind turbines have been installed for some time, including Buena Vista, Pottawattamie, Carroll, and Franklin. The results so far show that wind energy already provides a major contribution to these counties and supports infrastructure and services that county residents use every day.
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Iowa Ranked as Top State for Businesses Interested in Renewable Energy
Iowa's leadership on clean energy sparked another top ranking in a recent national report. The Corporate Clean Energy Procurement Index has ranked Iowa #1 overall among states for facilitating business purchases or ownership and production of renewable energy. Iowa's top score beat neighboring Illinois as well as New Jersey, California, and Texas in the top five.
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