The Clayton County Energy District is growing--with help from the Winneshiek County Energy District

Can the energy district model created in Winneshiek County be used in other Iowa counties?  That's the goal of the Winneshiek Energy District, which invited representatives from other counties to two days of meetings at the Hotel Winneshiek in Decorah at the end of last week.

There's a group in Howard County working on a Howard County Energy District and other local groups across Iowa, but the organization farthest along would appear to be the Clayton County Energy District.

The group sponsored a solar workshop last March that attracted around 100 people who wanted to talk with solar energy panel installers.  Clayton County Energy District chair Harry Blobaum says he was pleased with the "cross section of people" the workshop attracted,

Since then the group has been working through the Winneshiek Energy District to offer home energy audits in Clayton County and also, as board member Joleen Jansen puts it, "working on our presence."

The latest project from the group will involve sending out over 100 letters to pork producers in Clayton County, offering them energy use evaluations.  It's hoped the farmers would decide to take some of the recommendations and do energy improvements at their farms.

Jansen says the group's long-term hope is to hire a coordinator for Clayton County and to develop a clean energy plan.  Blobaum says it's been good to be able to get advice from Andy Johnson and other members of the Winneshiek Energy District as the Clayton County group begins to grow.  He's pleased with the results so far, but adds, "It's up to us to keep it up."

For more information about the Clayton County Energy District, visit www.claytoncountyenergydistrict.org