Business Financing Specialist, Mike Ludeking, with his children and solar powered home just outside of Decorah. / Photo courtesy greenpenny
banking on a clean energy future BY KRISTINE JEPSEN
E
nergy, in simple terms, is the currency of life. As long as the sun has bathed the leaves of plants and our upturned faces, life has been enriched by how we manage energy, whether it’s firing through our muscles, or fueling the way forward. Energy also circulates silently and seamlessly (most of the time) as electricity, as basic to our modern lifestyle as the Internet, itself powered by servers around the world, whirring with electricity. We can’t do without energy, and with this need comes opportunity, new ways to make renewable energy local and accessible to everyone. That’s the goal of two complementary Driftless-born institutions: Winneshiek Energy District, serving Winneshiek County, Iowa, since 2010, and greenpenny, a virtual bank launched by Decorah Bank & Trust in 2020 to finance renewable energy projects. 28
Spring 2021 / iloveinspired.com
“It’s green meets green,” Winneshiek Energy District founder Andy Johnson explains. In other words, “green” renewable energy with a softer carbon footprint – wind, solar, and geothermal – makes “green” economic sense, whether systems go up in your residential yard or on the roof of your machinery shed. Seeded by local, kitchen-table conversations about climate change and modeled on the Natural Resource Conservation Districts in each county, the Winneshiek Energy District (WED) is a non-profit that helps homeowners and businesses become more energy efficient. WED also helps educate communities on renewable energy technologies and their impact on our climate, and advocates for fair and equitable energy policy at the local, state, and national level. In its first decade, WED has helped more than 1,300 homes, farms, and businesses save more than $1.7 million through energy efficiency, and facilitated the investment of nearly $20 million in privately owned renewable energy systems in Winneshiek County alone, resulting in more than $31 million in utility savings. These renewable energy installations,