Iowa Power Fund

On May 23, 2007 Governor Culver signed a bill to establish the Iowa Power Fund that authorizes the state to spend $100 million over the next four years to help expand Iowa's renewable energy industry by investing in renewable fuel research and development. The Iowa Power Fund is likely to start accepting proposals in November 2007, and certainly before the end of this year. As of this writing, our understanding is that the process will be as follows:

• 1. The solicitation will be released some time in November and will be a continuous process of accepting preproposals. (This makes getting early submission critical.)
• 2. Single projects are limited to two million dollars.
• 3. The Power Fund Board will conduct its own evaluation of the proposals. (If outside review is required, the proposer will be asked to pay for the review.)
• 4. Commercially relevant projects will be favored (the Iowa Department of Economic Development will be part of the evaluation process).
• 5. Cost-share will be an important factor in project selection.
• 6. Topics of particular interest include (1) renewable energy (2) energy efficiency, (3) managing greenhouse gas emissions, and (4) biofuels.
• 7. No “bricks and mortar” projects will be funded, although equipment can be requested.

A. Biorenewables Projects

Based on this information and the goal to build research capability at ISU, the VPR/ED's Office is working with the Bioeconomy Institute (BEI) on an institutional proposal that will be an organized collection of projects meant to address Governor Culver’s goal of making Iowa the “biorenewables capital of the world.” The BEI will put forward a package of preproposals that meet the following criteria:

• 1. Build shared research capability in the Biorenewables Laboratory Building (BRL), the New Century Farm (NCF), BECON, and other shared campus facilities that are focused on biorenewables research. New equipment or remodeling are likely to be a major part of this research capability but new faculty lines or new construction are not allowed.
• 2. Demonstrate relevance to eventual commercialization through partnership with established companies or through a plan for business start-up.
• 3. Identify significant (voluntary) cost-share from existing federal or industrial projects.

If you are interested in exploring this possibility, please provide the following information by Monday, November 12th to Dorothy Pimlott in the VPR/ED's Office:

• Project Title:
• ISU Investigators:
• Budget Requested: [NO MORE THAN $2 MILLION PER PROJECT]
• Business partner(s): [Company name(s) or list as “Start-up prospect”]
• Description (less than 250 words):
• Contribution to Building Research Capability: [List remodeling or equipment purchases and where this capability enhancement will be located]
• Economic returns on investment: [please describe expected outcomes from the project]

B. Other Renewable Energy Projects

If you are interested in any of the other areas, i.e., renewable energy (wind and solar), energy efficiency, managing greenhouse gas emissions, then please let us (i.e., Dorothy Pimlott ) know, as we would like to help coordinate these efforts and assist in any way possible in making sure that your proposal is competitive. We apologize for the short turn around, but we need to take advantage of this opportunity in the best way that we can. Please contact Chitra Rajan if you have any questions.