We’re committed to helping our customers save energy dollars. What’s good for your electric bill is also good for our Utility, our community, and the environment.

Download our brochure with details on how to sign-up for Green Muscatine.

Solar Energy is Environmentally Friendly, Secure and Good for
Our Economy and Future

Solar energy supports the reliability of the electric grid through distributed generation. MP&W, like most utility systems, features a single distant source of electric generation. Solar panels (Photovoltaic arrays) offer a cost-effective source of peak-demand power and some can serve as a source of emergency standby power.

• Solar energy is clean, abundant, reliable, and affordable. It yields no air pollution or solid wastes.
• MP&W’s first 2.2 kW photovoltaic array is gradually reducing the need for fossil fuel generated electricity. It is offsetting CO2 emissions “greenhouse gases” by 3.3 tons per year.
• Solar energy is naturally produced in the greatest amounts when electricity consumption is highest, during the day and during summer months.

Every dollar spent on importing fuels, from other countries or states, is a dollar the local economy loses. In contrast, renewable energy sources are developed locally. Dollars spent stay at home create more jobs fostering economic growth.

Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had our future in mind when they built MP&W’s first electric generation unit in 1922. Keep the tradition alive for future generations with the development of green energy sources in Muscatine. Your support today will make a world of difference tomorrow.

Wind Energy is Clean, Quiet, Inexpensive and Easy to Harness

Wind energy is a renewable energy source, produces no pollution and could eventually pay for itself. The wind turbine at MP&W compliments our photovoltaic arrays and demonstrates two alternative green sources of electrical energy implemented by MP&W.

MP&W’s Skystream 3.7™ 1.8 kW wind turbine has a 12-foot rotor that resides on a 60-foot pole. It is expected to produce approximately 400 kW hours a month, which is used to offset electrical energy requirements at MP&W’s Cedar Street Administration/Operations (A/O) Center. Over its life, the Skystream 3.7™ can offset more than 6,000 pounds of global warming pollutants (carbon dioxide and other gases that are associated with global warming) every year.

All-inclusive wind generators (with controls and inverters built-in) are available and are designed to provide quiet, clean electricity in very low winds. This makes it an ideal way for homes to reduce energy consumption in the home and save money.

Installing wind or solar energy sources could reduce monthly electric bills by one-third to one-half. It may even eliminate your monthly bill depending on your location and other site-specific factors. The amount of money saved will depend upon its installed cost, the amount of electricity you use, the average wind speed at your site, and other factors.

GeoExchange Technology Pulls Money Right from the Ground and Saves Energy

GeoExchange technology taps the natural geothermal energy underground. A ground source heat pump heats and cools your home. Fluid is circulated through an underground loop of pipe. The fluid absorbs heat from the earth during the winter and dissipates heat from the house during the summer. The heat or cold from the fluid is converted to hot or cool air by circulating it through water-to-refrigerant and refrigerant-to-air heat exchangers (similar to a car radiator).

Ground source heat pumps are very efficient. They utilize the relatively constant temperature of the ground (50-55 degrees in Iowa) to obtain heat during the winter and provide cooling during the summer.

Ground source heat pumps can be categorized as having closed or open loops, and those loops can be installed in three ways: horizontally, vertically, or in a pond/lake. The type chosen depends on the available land area and the type of soil and rock at the installation site. These factors will determine the most economical choice for installation.

Geothermal heat pumps (sometimes referred to as GeoExchange, earth-coupled, ground-source, or water-source heat pumps) have been in use since the late 1940s. The ground source heat pump is one of the most efficient residential heating and cooling systems available today, with heating efficiencies 50 to 70% higher than other heating systems and cooling efficiencies 20 to 40% higher than available air conditioners. That directly translates into savings on your utility bills.