NEWTON, Iowa -- Bill Haman, Iowa Energy Center, and Erin Herbold, Iowa State University Agriculture Law Center, will be speakers at the Central Iowa Wind Energy Conference on May 14. The conference will be held at the Des Moines Area Community College Auditorium in Newton from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. It will give participants a chance to evaluate wind as an energy source and explore the future potential of wind energy.

The conference will be of interest to producers, industry owners, school officials, residential owners and farmers who have continuous electric needs and want to generate their own power, according to Kapil Arora, ISU Extension field agricultural engineer and conference co-coordinator. The key speakers will address wind energy basics, grants and zero interest loans for wind generators and wind energy contracts. 

The conference program also includes discussions with early adopters of wind energy, with applications for home, school, business and on-farm wind turbine use.  A panel of representatives from utility companies serving the area will conclude the conference. 

Registration fee including lunch and workshop materials is $25 for everyone registering by May 11.  Registrations after May 11 will be $35.  Registration is limited to the first 200 participants.  Walk-in registrations on the date of the conference will be accepted if space is available.  Please send completed registration forms and fees to ISU Extension Jasper County Office, 550 North 2nd Avenue West, Newton, IA 50208.  Registration forms can be obtained by calling the extension office at (641) 792-6433 or by going online at www.extension.iastate.edu/jasper/

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