Where does the power come from?

Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO) is a generation and transmission cooperative supplying power to its member distribution cooperatives of which Farmers Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a member. CIPCO is a state-of-the-art energy provider, meeting the needs of their members with a diverse fuel mix of coal, hydro, wind, solar and natural gas energy resources. 

CIPCO member map showing generation

 

 

1          Western Area Power Administration (Hydro)
2          Elk Wind Farm, Greeley (Wind)
3          Hawkeye Wind Farm, Hawkeye (Wind)
4          Rippey Wind Farm, Grand Junction (Wind)
5          Summit Lake Generating Plant, Creston (Natural Gas)
6          Louisa Generating Station, Muscatine (Coal)
7          Walter Scott, Jr. Energy Center #3 & #4, Council Bluffs (Coal)
8          Linn County Solid Waste Agency, Marion (Landfill Gas)
9-14     Solar Sites: Osceola, Pella, Marshalltown, Urbana, Wilton, and Corning (Solar)    
15        Heartland Divide Wind Energy Center, Audubon (Wind)
16        Wapello Solar, Wapello (Solar)
17        Independence Wind Energy, Ryan (Wind)
18        Prescott Wind Energy, Prescott (Wind)    

 

 

 

A Diverse Blend of Energy Sources 

Sources of energy pie chart

 

  1. CIPCO invests in the development of renewable energy projects in several ways. We operate six small-scale solar arrays near communities we serve and retain the renewable energy certificates associated with each. We also contract with energy producers for the electricity output from wind, solar, hydro, and methane gas from a landfill (converted into electricity). CIPCO cannot claim these resources as renewable within our supply portfolio as we have either sold to third parties or do not receive the renewable attributes associated with the electricity produced from these renewable power sources. By selling these attributes (RECs), we not only support other organizations in meeting their renewable energy goals, we also generate revenue to help us lower our wholesale power rate to our 12 Member-owner distribution cooperatives and 15 municipalities.
     
  2. A percentage of market purchases exist within the portfolio to meet additional supply needs not covered by existing contracts or CIPCO-produced generation. Weather volatility and unplanned operational events at power plants may also impact market purchases.
 Sources of Energy Pie Chart Percent Details
Wind1 - 41.5%; Coal - 26.3%; Solar1 - 7.5%; Other Purchases - 4.7%; Hydro & Landfill Gas1 - 2.9%; Natural Gas - 2.3%; Interchange2 - 14.8%