Iowa now generates 15 percent of its electricity from wind energy, according to a new estimate released this morning by the Iowa Policy Project (IPP). The nonprofit research organization’s estimate is nearly twice the 7.1 percent estimate the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) gave as a year-end figure for Iowa in a national report it released this morning. IPP officials said their estimate reflects additional wind-energy capacity that has come online since the end of the year.

Both IPP and AWEA estimates had indicated Iowa produced about 5.5 percent of its electricity from wind in 2007.

“We asked the Iowa Utilities Board to do an update; they were shocked as we were to find that wind now accounts for 15 percent of generation,” said Teresa Galluzzo, a research associate with IPP. The utility board’s estimates indicate that Iowa currently generates an estimated 7.3 million Megawatt hours (MWh) from wind, compared with total output of between 45 million and 50 million MWh.

The IPP also claims in its report that the increased use of wind generation has not resulted in increased utility rates in Iowa, despite a 17 percent increase requested last month by Alliant Energy. Galluzzo noted that MidAmerican Energy Co.’s commitment to wind energy production was a factor in the utility company’s pledge not to seek an electric rate increase until 2014. Alliant has fewer wind energy projects and the utility’s rate increase is unrelated to costs associated with wind-power projects, she said.

According to AWEA’s year-end report, Iowa, which it estimated generated 7.1 percent of its electricity from wind, ranked second only to Minnesota, which generated an estimated 7.5 percent of its electricity from wind.

According to AWEA, wind accounted for 1.2 percent of all electricity generated in the United States last year.

In 2008, the wind energy industry brought more than 8,500 MW of new generating capacity online, which increased the nation’s cumulative total by 50 percent to more than 25,300 MW. The new installations place the United States on a trajectory to meet its goal of producing 20 percent of its energy from wind energy by 2030, AWEA said.

Iowa ranked second in the nation in 2008 for total installed wind-power capacity, with nearly 2,800 MW of capacity, compared with Texas, which had more than 7,000 MW.