Renewable Energy Seeks Additional Sources
The Associated Press reports that “on a typical summer weekend, hundreds of boats glide across the shimmering surface of Iowa’s Lake Red Rock, the state’s largest body of water.”
“The placid 15,000-acre lake was created in the 1960s after the government built a dam to prevent frequent flooding on the Des Moines River. Now the cool waters behind the dam are attracting interest beyond warm-weather recreation. A power company wants to build a hydroelectric plant here — a project that reflects renewed interest in hydropower nationwide, which could bring changes to scores of American dams.”
“Hydroelectric development stagnated in the 1980s and 1990s as environmental groups lobbied against it and a long regulatory process required years of environmental study. But for the first time in decades, power companies are proposing new projects to take advantage of government financial incentives, policies that promote renewable energy over fossil fuels and efforts to streamline the permit process.”
“‘We’re seeing a significant change in attitude,’ said Linda Church Ciocci, executive director of the National Hydropower Association, a trade group.”