📣 Take Action: Don’t give utilities a blank check

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Take Action: Don’t give utilities a blank check

Senate File 198 threatens to remove state agency oversight on utility spending to upgrade aging coal plants through the Emissions Plan and Budget (EPB) process. MidAmerican and Alliant have a monopoly over the people they serve – Iowans do not have a choice about where they buy electricity. Current law requires the utilities to get approval from the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) before spending money to modify coal plants to meet federal air quality rules. This bill makes review voluntary, leaving it up to the utility “in its sole discretion.”

The oversight provided by the EPBs is important because there may be more cost-effective options than pouring more money into polluting technologies like coal plants, which are already approaching the end of their lifespan. Better options could include running the coal units less or even replacing them with clean energy. And poor investment decisions will simply prop up expensive, old coal plants instead of protecting Iowans’ health and pocketbooks.

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Take Action: Don’t give utilities a blank check

Iowa Senate Members

Subject: Reject SF 198: Refuse to eliminate critical utility oversight at the expense of Iowans

Message:

Iowa utilities have agreed to oversight from the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) in exchange for a state-sanctioned monopoly. Reducing regulatory oversight of Investor-Owned Utilities (Alliant and MidAmerican Energy) means reducing consumer protections against excessive energy costs. The plain language of SF 198 is clear: MidAmerican and Alliant Energy will have complete control over hundreds of millions of dollars — potentially billions — in spending to meet air quality regulations at their coal plants in the coming years. Page 1, line 11 of the bill’s language changes the planning requirement from a “shall” to a “may.” Line 21 on that same page is even more stark, giving authority to the utility “in its sole discretion.” The utilities are claiming that they would still need Iowa Utilities Board approval to make big investments, but that is simply not true. These profit-driven utility providers stand to benefit immensely from this change at the expense of everyday Iowans who are already burdened by rising costs across the board. I urge you to carefully review the bill’s language before making a vote that harms Iowa customers. What this bill will do: Senate File 198 would strip away regulation that requires utilities to submit spending plans for coal plant upgrades, and instead gives the utilities voluntary and ‘sole discretion’ to submit plans for IUB review. What it will not do: It does not require utilities to submit Emissions Planning and Budget documents to the Iowa Utilities Board. It will not “eliminate frivolous lawsuits,” make coal plants more profitable, or save customers money. Iowa DNR analysis published on February 13, 2023, estimated that compliance with the existing federal “Regional Haze” air quality rule could require MidAmerican to invest as much as $475 million at just two coal plants (Walter Scott 3 in Council Bluffs and Louisa near Muscatine). As air quality standards are tightened, and with expected future regulation of greenhouse gas emissions at the federal level, this bill will have removed any oversight of how the utilities spend money to retrofit their coal plants and risks massive costs to Iowa customers in the future if the IUB does not review the spending in advance. I urge you to carefully review and then reject SF 198 to continue requiring critical state agency oversight of utilities to protect Iowa customers.

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