Economic Impacts of Wind Energy Development in Iowa: Four Scenarios

The deployment of additional wind energy capacity in Iowa will yield discernible short-term and longer-term economic impacts for Iowa. The short-term and temporary economic gains are from the annual purchases and deliveries of Iowa-supplied wind energy generating equipment like blades, towers, nacelles and other critical components, and all construction-related activity associated with erecting and making operational wind energy arrays The long-term and permanent gains to the Iowa economy are driven by the on-going increments to statewide productivity associated with the operation and maintenance of the built wind energy systems, and the incremental increase in lease payments made to landowners for siting the wind energy structures This study projects the annual economic impact outcomes to be expected from four development scenarios over an investment and deployment horizon of 15 years.