Controversy erupts over low job creation report on the Iowa Power Fund

In Iowa, the state Legislative Services Agency reported that the $100 million Iowa Power Fund, launched in 2007 to create energy independence and jobs, has created only 100 new jobs to date.

However, backers of the fund including Governor Chet Cutler point out that the LSA report does not include construction jobs, and that the fund will realize many more jobs once the alternative energy technologies supported by the fund prove successful.

$47.7 million from the four-year fund has been disbursed to date, matching $85 million in federal contributions and $101 million in private equity, but the Governor said that only $35 million has gone to project support to date, with the balance diverted to energy education and flood victim support.

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