Urge lawmakers to maintain public oversight of monopoly utilities!
A bill in the State Senate would remove oversight from utilities and their coal plant pollution. Right now, major utilities are required to submit any plans and budgets tied to how they control pollution at power plants every two years with the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB). The equipment upgrades needed can cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the board is tasked with making sure these upgrades are good investments for consumers.
Iowans do not have a choice on where to buy electricity. Our two biggest utilities, MidAmerican and Alliant Energy, have a monopoly over their customers. This is why these utilities are regulated by the Iowa Utilities Board in the first place!
Senate File 198 would remove the regular calendar for these proceedings, leaving it up to utilities on when to submit plans, if at all.
Our communities deserve clean air and water, and that means protecting them from coal plant pollution! If these bills pass, a monopoly utility could unilaterally ignore calls for investing in pollution control, leaving our communities behind to deal with the health consequences.
Tell lawmakers this is unacceptable! Urge them to vote NO on SF 198.
George Neal North coal plant, photo by Emma Colman