CRES Forum spent last week in Iowa, traveling I-80 from West Branch to Des Moines to get a firsthand look at how one of the country’s most productive energy states puts a practical, all-of-the-above approach to work.
Revitalizing Manufacturing in Southeast Iowa
The week began in West Branch, a town of about 3,000 best known as the birthplace of Herbert Hoover. It is also home to Nordex USA, a wind turbine manufacturing facility that sat idle for 12 years before successfully resuming operations in the summer of 2024, helped along by federal tax credits that support domestic energy manufacturing.
CRES Forum’s Vice President of Communications, Mary Collins Howell, joined Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) for a tour of the plant to see how turbine components move through production and are then deployed. Nordex’s long-term commitment to the community was evident throughout the visit. Even during the years when the plant was not operating, the company maintained the facility and preserved the opportunity to restart operations when market conditions improved. As a result, Nordex was able to build on the communities skilled workforce rather than start from scratch. The plant employs just over 100 people on site today and expects to triple that number as production increases over the next few years.
Agriculture and Energy at the Iowa State Fair
Later in the week, CRES Forum took part in Farmfluencers at the Fair, a one-day event at the Iowa State Fair that brought together digital creators, industry voices and policymakers around the people who are making the future of American agriculture and energy a reality. The pairing is a natural one in Iowa, where the two sectors work in cohesion and where farmers increasingly supply not just food but power.
Attendees heard from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) along with Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and Ashley Hinson, who discussed their work on practical energy solutions, including the prospect of real progress on permitting reform by the end of the year.
CRES Forum also joined Rep. Miller-Meeks for a tour of MidAmerican Energy’s wind turbine and executive facility at the fair, which offered a look at how American manufacturing supports homegrown energy and the expanding partnership between MidAmerican and Iowa’s agricultural community.
A Practical Roadmap
Iowa makes the case for all-of-the-above as clearly as any state in the country.
Between wind, solar, ethanol and the Duane Arnold nuclear plant set to restart near Palo, Iowa draws from nearly every homegrown resource it has.
CRES Forum is grateful to Rep. Hinson for her time on the Nordex tour, to Sen. Grassley and Rep. Miller-Meeks for their continued partnership and leadership, and to everyone who participated in a productive week of conversation about keeping American energy strong, affordable and homegrown.