Iowa's top economic development official wants the newly revamped Iowa Energy Center to tackle more "transformational" projects than it previously did under the umbrella of Iowa State University.

But the center, now folded into the Iowa Economic Development Authority, will operate with a "bare minimum" of funding and staff, said Debi Durham, director of the authority.

Durham and members of the board of the newly revamped Iowa Energy Center held their first public meeting Tuesday morning. The agency officially took over the center's operations Oct 1.

At Iowa State, the energy center employed 14 people. None of them moved with the program to Des Moines. The economic development agency has hired three new employees to staff the center.

A proposal to move the center away from Iowa State blindsided many people in the middle of the 2017 legislative session. Its programming had been the subject of a power struggle as Iowa utilities sought more control over priorities, budget and personnel. Though members of the center's advisory board were stunned, the university backed the move.

As reported by the Associated Press, major utilities pushed for the transfer, though critics warned that it could jeopardize the center's independence and align it too closely with the interests of public utilities.

RELATED: ISU collaborated with utilities on energy center transfer, emails show

The center receives about $4 million annually from a tax on gas and electric utilities. In the past, it has promoted ethanol, wind and solar energy and worked to cut energy consumption at public buildings. Since its formation in 1990, it has awarded grants to researchers and loans to homeowners and businesses that adopt on-site solar and wind production.

But on Tuesday, Durham said the group would take a new direction. No new grants or loans will be awarded while the state agency maps out its future. In the past, Durham said the energy center funded projects that were "too small," like residential energy efficiency updates.

"And I don't think that is the mission of this group," she told The Des Moines Register. "I think the mission of this group is really about solving bigger problems: research problems, energy efficiency issues. That's what this group is going to take on."

Going forward, awards will be made to projects that align with the seven goals of the Iowa Energy Plan, a document commissioned by state agencies to assess Iowa's energy supply and demand.

Those seven "pillars" include research and development, workforce development, support for rural and underserved areas, biomass, natural gas expansion in underserved areas, electric grid modernization and alternative fuel vehicles.

Durham said her agency needs less staff to run the center because it already had certain infrastructure in-house like IT and communications staffers. And a leaner staff can put more money into direct programming, she said.

"Other than paying for those three staff people, it's all going to go back into programming and research," she said. "So we believe it's a better return for investment."

In the future, instead of waiting around for grant applications, the center might pose a problem — like the lack of natural gas service in some rural areas — and ask for grant applications with possible solutions.

"We really have no parameters ..." Durham told the board.

Durham also reminded the board to consider its time frame: New legislation cuts off funding for the center after five years.

"If you know you only have a runway of five years of funds, you want to make strategic investments that one, give you a greater return on investment," she said after the meeting, "and two, you want to do things that are truly transformational."

Rep. Charles Isenhart, D-Dubuque, urged the Iowa Energy Center board to keep the environment on the forefront.

He referenced recent reports of rising carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere: The United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization said this week that the concentration of the heat-trapping gas is higher than it’s been in at least 800,000 years — including all of human history.

Isenhart said legislators didn't necessarily change the energy center's mission when they relocated it to the economic development authority. And he encouraged the group to think beyond its five years of funding.

"While the funding for this group is being sunset in 2022, I'm not sure we necessarily eliminate this group, we just maybe take away its money. But that's all future discussion," he said. "I guess I would encourage you, despite that fact, to think beyond five years in your own goal setting to address some of these larger issues that we as a state need to address."

Isenhart lamented President Donald Trump's September decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. He said he'd like to see Iowa join the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 14 states committed to "reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris agreement."

"I think Iowa, given what we’ve already done," Isenhart said, "we are really well positioned already to say we're doing our part. ... And maybe we should take some credit for that and provide some leadership to other states in the Midwest. I think this group is perfectly well positioned to help us do that."

The board immediately adjourned and offered no response to the legislator's comments.