The following piece is an editorial written by Terry Kouba, president of Alliant Energy’s Iowa energy company.
Agriculture and energy have both changed drastically over the past 30 years.
Guided by our purpose-driven strategy and commitment to generating cleaner energy, Alliant Energy has been working to progress through our Clean Energy Blueprint, a roadmap to accelerate the transition to renewable energy. This acceleration is only possible because of our partners in the agriculture community.
Farmers, landowners and agri-businesses have partnered with Alliant Energy because of relationships we’ve built for more than a century as a reliable and customer-focused energy provider. In meetings with farmers and ag groups throughout both Wisconsin and Iowa, the overlap in our values is natural. In fact, we put them in writing to demonstrate our commitment to our current ag partners – and those considering working with us. You can find them at alliantenergy.com/partnershipwithag.
Led by our values, our discussions with the agriculture community have been open, honest and reasonable as we’ve sought to find where partnership benefits both sides. We are as committed as the ag community to preserving the land we use for our renewable energy projects. All land can be restored back to its original use at the end of the lease, which ranges anywhere from 25 to 40 years and can be extended. You can read more about the benefits of land banking and preservation at alliantenergy.com/landbanking.
In addition to being good partners, we are proud our projects provide economic benefits for the local communities. Property owners receive lease payments for the use of their land, and local workers are hired for the construction and long-term operation of these renewable energy projects.
We consider these partnerships vital and position us for reaching our renewable energy goals, which everyone benefits from. In addition to being great for the environment, renewable energy costs less to operate and helps lower costs over the long term.
These partners are proud to generate energy on their own land to meet their needs and those of their neighbors through partnerships with Alliant Energy. And more importantly, these partnerships allow for continued delivery of safe, cost-effective and reliable services our customers depend on.
