Former Hawkeye football star Tim Dwight talks Tuesday with a reporter about his hopes of putting the University of Iowa into the top 25 when it comes to generating electrify from solar power. Dwight’s proposal could save $100,000 a year in utility bills, enough to provide full tuition scholarships to 12 in-state students. Dwight spoke at an Iowa City news conference with Senator Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids.
State Senator, Former Iowa Football Star, and UI Students Call For Solar Power at the University of Iowa
Proposal Would Move Iowa into the Top 25 Colleges for Solar Power
IOWA CITY – State Senator Rob Hogg (D-Cedar Rapids) announced today he will introduce a bill to provide funds for the University of Iowa to add solar electric generation in 2013.
“Solar power works to create jobs, reduce energy costs, and meet our obligations to the environment and future generations,” Hogg said at a press conference outside Kinnick Stadium at the University of Iowa. “This proposal would move the University of Iowa into the Top 25 for solar power nationally. Let’s turn solar power into Hawkeye power.”
The proposed size of the solar facilities – 1,240 kilowatts – would produce roughly $100,000 worth of electricity each year, saving enough money to provide full tuition scholarships to an additional 12 in-state students every year. The solar facilities would avoid more than 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide pollution each year from coal-fired electricity generation. Installing the solar facilities would put approximately 20 people to work full time for 6 to 8 weeks.
Hogg was joined by Tim Dwight, former Iowa football star and now a leading solar developer and a member of the Iowa Solar/Small Wind Energy Trade Association (ISETA), Kimberly Dickey, president of the Iowa Renewable Energy Association (I-RENEW), and two UI students, Andrew Woronowicz, from Chicago, a representative of the UI Sierra Student Coalition, and Allison Kindig, from Cedar Rapids, an industrial engineering major.
“Solar power will create jobs, protect our wildlife, and move us one step closer to sustainable sources of energy for us and our plant,” Woronowicz said. “It is a necessary change we must make to move beyond unsustainable sources of energy and usher in a new generation of clean energy responsibility.”
“As student engineers, we are working to develop solar cooker technology for international rural villages, so it makes sense that we would be a leader in solar energy right here on campus, too,” Kindig said.
“Solar power is affordable for the average person today,” Dwight said. “Solar provides clean, abundant free energy, job creation, and a true path to energy security.”
Hogg’s proposal would provide $3.1 million in state funding from the state’s projected $321 million cash surplus. Although the proposal leaves the siting decisions to the University of Iowa, Dwight and Dickey suggested solar panels could easily be added at the football indoor facility, the tennis facility, the field hockey facility, the wellness center, and the boat house.
The public can learn more about solar energy including this proposal at a program. “What Should Solar Look Like For You,” featuring both Dwight and Dickey, on Wednesday, September 5, starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Iowa City Public Library.
This proposal supports the goals of Iowa Renewable Energy Jobs 2020, a coalition of more than 30 businesses and organizations, seeking to create an additional 20,000 clean energy jobs and save Iowans more than $1 billion a year in energy costs by 2020.
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