The University of Iowa moved up in the EPA’s Green Power Partner rankings to No. 2 on the Top 30 Colleges and Universities list of the largest green power users. Iowa uses nearly 300 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which represents 84% of its total electricity needs, up from 73% last year when it held the No. 3 spot.
Iowa also improved its ranking on the National Top 100 List, now ranked No. 52, up from No. 60. This ranking places Iowa among companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Dell Technologies, and Capital One.
Iowa’s rankings on the EPA’s Top Power Partner Lists recognize the university’s long history of innovation and achievement in developing and using alternative fuels to generate steam for heating and cooling campus buildings.
This work has propelled Iowa toward meeting its Zero Coal by 2025 goal by exploring innovative biomass alternatives in its power plant, such as oat hulls, miscanthus grass, and energy pellets.
The university's commitment to green power provides energy security and creates economic value for the state by locally sourcing alternative fuels when possible. Since 2020, UI’s energy delivery partner, ENGIE, has carried forward the important work of optimizing UI operations to enable the power plant boilers to utilize additional renewable fuels.
The EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that helps increase green power use among U.S. organizations to advance the American market for green power and development of those sources to reduce air pollution and other environmental impacts associated with electricity use.