opinion

Iowa utilities attempting extreme power grab

Iowa’s electric and gas utilities are attempting an extreme power grab with Senate File 2311. Alliant Energy’s executive tried to defend this awful legislation ["Energy providers need updated policies to reflect the future", Feb. 25] by claiming that our monopoly utilities should be deregulated through this legislation because of emerging technologies.

Unfortunately most of our energy utilities in Iowa have only embraced emerging technologies when they are the sole beneficiaries.

Energy utilities are in the business of generating and selling energy. When ratepayers use less energy through energy efficiency or generate their own energy through locally owned renewable energy, our monopoly power utilities sell less energy.

The two big monopoly energy utilities in Iowa, MidAmerican and Alliant, make hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed profits every single year. These utilities are guaranteed an 11 percent profit every single year, paid for by us, the ratepayers.

With emerging and affordable renewable energy technology, we are at a crossroads in our energy future. We need to kill this bill and make sure our energy utilities are not the sole beneficiaries of emerging energy technology. And then we need to work to make sure all Iowans benefit in the transition to 100 percent renewable energy and energy efficiency.

— Matt Ohloff, Des Moines