The head of the Iowa Energy Center has resigned to take another job, but on his way out, he cited pressure from utilities over his support for solar power, the Associated Press reported in an article in The Des Moines Register. At one point, Gov. Terry Branstad turned away a $1 million federal grant because utilities had objected to energy center director Mark Petri’s proposal to help communities prepare to install solar power. Petri will join the University of Illinois, where he will run a new center focusing on critical infrastructure resiliency. Last year the Iowa Utilities Board withheld some of the center’s funding while pushing for an audit of its finances, but eventually released the money after protests that the utilities board had overstepped its authority. Petri ran the center for more than three years. ISU professor Mufit Akinc will serve as interim director. Read the Business Record’s Closer Look feature on Petri.