Alliant Energy Corporation
		Worldwide Headquarters
		4902 North Biltmore Lane
		P.O. Box 77007
		Madison, WI 53707-1007

		Office: 1.800.862.6222
		www.alliantenergy.com
       December 5, 2002

Mr. Thomas C. Dorr
Under Secretary
Rural Development
Office of the Secretary
United States Department
   Of Agriculture
Washington, D.C. 20250


Dear Mr. Dorr:					Re:  Expanding Rural Renewable Energy Systems
   
       Alliant Energy is pleased to provide the following written recommendations for implementation of 
Section 9006 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 as a response to your public meeting on 
this subject held on December 3, 2002.  Alliant Energy is a progressive utility holding and energy services 
company serving over 53,000 farm accounts in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois with headquarters in 
Madison, WI.  

       Environmental stewardship is a core value for Alliant Energy.  Our company has been very active in 
supporting the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies.  Alliant has 320 MW of wind 
generating capacity under contract, operates a refuse gasification facility supporting a 6 MW generator, co-fires 
renewable fuels such as oat hulls and switchgrass in utility generating facilities, recovers gas from landfills and 
assists customers in development of farm and industrial digester systems.

    There are many aspects of this bill that warrant careful consideration.  We would like to point out the 
following two areas which we feel are departures from past energy programs and are necessary to realize the 
magnitude of impact President Bush is seeking to achieve.

1.	Expansion of Open Loop renewable energy systems to include all forms of animal manure.  Previous 
programs have limited open loop animal manure energy systems to poultry waste.  Significant 
environmental pressures are being placed on alternative management of swine and cattle manure, they 
represent a significant source of renewable fuels.  Financial support of technology development to further 
this biomass to energy potential needs to be a part of Section 9006 implementation. 

2.	Expansion of “Renewable Energy Systems” to include any technology that displaces reliance on fossil 
fuels.  Past renewable energy programs have limited support to those systems producing electricity. 
Significant amounts of fossil fuels are consumed for the production of heat energy for on-farm and 
agricultural product processing. Utilization of renewable fuels to displace fossil fuels for the production of 
any energy form should qualify for financial support provided by this renewable energy program and not be 
limited to those installations resulting in electric generation.  We hope that existing production incentive 
programs will also be expanded to include heat energy production facilities.



December 5, 2002
RE:  Expanding Rural Renewable Energy Systems
Page Two




       Alliant Energy applauds the efforts of the Bush Administration and Congress to further renewable 
energy development in the United States under the 2002 Farm Bill.  We also applaud the efforts of the Rural 
Business-Cooperative Services in soliciting input on implementation of this bill.  Working together we can help 
our customers realize the full potential of the renewable capabilities in the agricultural community.  

       If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact myself at (608) 458-5747, or either of the 
two contacts below:

William A. Johnson				Tom Lenaghan
Manager, Agricultural Customer Services	Manager, Biomass Energy Development
2777 Columbia Dr.				284 XE Place
Portage, WI  	53901				Boone, IA  50036
(608) 742-0824					(515) 268-3411

       We look forward to the future success of this program focused on renewable energy, and offer our 
assistance with its development.  I appreciate your consideration of this input to the program implementation.

Sincerely,
 
Kim K. Zuhlke
Vice President - Engineering
Sales and Marketing
KKZ:mjm

cc:	Bill Johnson
	Tom Lenaghan