2014 Iowa Governor's race: on Energy & Oil

Terry Branstad: Keep corn-based ethanol in nation's fuel supply

Hatch questioned tax cuts the state gave to a fertilizer plant that located in southeast Iowa, asking "why are we giving these kinds of incentives to corporations, instead of looking where job growth really is, it's in the small towns, it's in the small businesses."

Branstad argued that the deal created jobs for state residents. He also attacked the fiscal policies of the previous Democratic governor, seeking to tie Hatch to a leader that he said didn't balance the books.

Jack Hatch: Solar energy grants instead of utility special interests

"Not to be controlled by the special interests of the utility companies that pressured his department to return the million dollar grant," Hatch says. "That in itself shows the interests of this governor, not so much in really renewable energy, but protecting the larger corporations at the expense of the smaller producers and the individual homeowners that could benefit dramatically from this."

Hatch says the solar industry is poised to make the same kind of economic impact on Iowa as wind turbines. "The governor has backed away from this state's ability to enter into the solar market by his refusal and his returning of a grant back to the Department of Energy that would be a modest approach to us beginning our solar energy capability," Hatch says.