Luther College
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy

Luther College has advocated repeatedly for public policies related to the growth of renewable energy, the expansion of energy efficiency, and the preservation of net metering in Iowa. More specifically, Luther College and Luther College Wind Energy Project, LLC have jointly responded on several occasions to invitations from the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) to address various public policy questions regarding the growth of "distributed generation" in the State of Iowa. This advocacy has the explicit support of the VP for Finance and Administration and senior college leadership.

Luther College, through its Center for Sustainable Communities, have developed many partnerships throughout our region and state, including:

1) Community Flood Resilience and Mitigation: Luther College faculty - in partnership with the Iowa Flood Center and the Iowa Watershed Approach - have worked alongside the Upper Iowa Watershed Management Authority to explore community flooding impacts, ultimately with the goal of enhancing community flood resilience. This work has involved collecting stories and data on flooding impacts in the unincorporated community of Freeport, as well as conducting a watershed wide survey of 2,250 addresses (with over 500 responses) seeking to understand the indirect impacts of flooding on citizens in the watershed. This information will inform community resilience action plans and watershed plans, which serve as guiding documents for prioritizing water quality and flood mitigation activities in the watershed. Additionally, Luther convened meetings of Emergency Managers in the watershed to facilitate information sharing across jurisdictional and organizational boundaries.

2) Floodplain Development/Rezoning: In response to proposed additional commercial development in the floodplain, Luther College held an open community forum on floodplain zoning to facilitate sharing of best practices from other cities facing similar pressures, as well as to facilitate conversation among elected officials, city employees, and community members. In addition, Luther faculty attended and - in some cases - spoke at community meetings about the proposed floodplain development. Ultimately, the proposed development was not approved by the city planning and zoning board.

3) County-level Community-based Environmental Asset identification and prioritization - Faculty and students from Luther have partnered with the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors and the County Planning and Zoning Commission to create a community-based environmental asset identification process. The ultimate goal of this work is to collect from the citizens of the county information that will potentially inform the creation of an environmental resource protection overlay zone in the county that could potentially restrict uses that threaten those resources. This work has been paused during Covid but we expect it to resume in 2022.

4) Luther College has advocated repeatedly for public policies related to the growth of renewable energy and the affordability of electricity in Iowa. In 2019, Luther joined with others in Decorah (City Council, County Hospital, Regional Community College, and the largest local provider of senior services) to oppose an attempt by Alliant Energy to raise base electric rates 24.45% for residential customers and thus exacerbate significant energy burdens for households living in poverty. Two Luther professors filed expert witness testimony and one was asked by the Iowa Utilities Board to testify under oath in a closed and confidential session. The latter testimony demonstrated that the company knew it intended to raise rates but did not inform the citizens of Decorah about this important fact while the community debated whether to establish a municipal electric utility in the spring of 2018. The Iowa Utilities Board excoriated the company for its behavior and required Alliant Energy to develop a Customer Satisfaction and Stakeholder Engagement Plan that, among other things, ensured the company would provide customers with advance notice about anticipated rate increases in the future.

5) In August 2020, Luther’s Center for Sustainable Communities received a grant from the USDA’s Rural Energy for America program. The funding is being used to conduct energy audits for small rural businesses and agricultural producers throughout eleven counties in Iowa and Minnesota. Luther has contracted with the Winneshiek Energy District to provide these audits. The purpose of this funding is to assist farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses in developing renewable energy systems, and in making energy-efficiency improvements to their operations.

6) In 2020, the Directors for Luther’s Facilities Department and Luther’s Center for Sustainable Communities met with Ras Smith, who is running for Governor in 2022. The three met at Luther’s new Solar+Storage facility and talked about Luther's commitments to renewables and our climate action plan. This is typical of several past visits that happened before this STARS reporting period, in which members of Congress and Iowa’s Governor visited Luther’s renewable energy facilities.

As a charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, Luther College has participated via Second Nature in the “America is All In” initiative. In April 2021, Luther’s President, Jenifer Ward, co-signed a letter calling on the Biden-Harris administration to set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% below 2005 levels by 2030. In a press release related to the letter, President Ward stated: "Luther College's educational mission calls us to be good stewards of the earth and responsible citizens. We have a concrete plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, operate more efficiently, and use renewable energy to heat, cool, and power our campus, so our signature on this letter takes that local commitment and joins it to a national effort that can have a global impact." It is worth noting that President Ward felt she could sign this letter with integrity since Luther College has already reduced its baseline greenhouse gas emissions by over 50 percent (63% as of May 31, 2021).

Luther has also worked in close partnership with the Winneshiek Energy District to submit funding proposals to the federal government to support investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy on campus, in Decorah, and throughout Winneshiek County.

While the Luther governing body has not engaged in public policy at the municipal/local level, here's what the CSC has done: Within the local area and region, the Center for Sustainable Communities has worked with several different community partners on policies and practices that promote sustainability and healthy living within the region. Specifically, we have worked with over 10 different school districts on implementing policy and practices that foster healthier school environments, including adding local food procurement priority into district wellness policies.

The CSC also helped the Decorah City Council draft a sustainability plan, including creating climate action and waste reduction goals for the entire city. The plan was approved and adopted by the City Council in February 2020. Luther students and professors have provided reports on various sustainability-related topics to the Decorah Sustainability Commission, which has been established by the City Council to help the city implement the sustainability plan. These reports have focused on the projected demand and best locations for electric vehicle charging stations, ways to promote household composting, and air quality monitoring. Two Luther professors serve on the seven-member Sustainability Commission.

Luther has offered ideas and remarks to the planning and zoning commissions of both the City of Decorah and the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors regarding draft zoning regulations and restrictions regarding the siting of renewable energy systems as well as zoning related to flooding and protecting the floodplain of the Upper Iowa River.