Renner Barsella, renner.barsella@sierraclub.org, 217-390-9394
DES MOINES, IA -- Today, Sierra Club released a report card grading MidAmerican Energy’s performance in seven key areas ranging from coal usage, to lack of an emissions reduction goal, to equitable access to clean energy, as well as an overall grade for the utility. The report card follows the release of a more technical economic analysis of MidAmerican’s energy generation released in a report last month, The Coal Truth. The economic report found that MidAmerican’s most uneconomic plants in Iowa, have lost $27.5 million for customers over the last five years and both plants could retire without needing to replace their generated power until 2023. Those retirements would save utility customers $92 million.
“The time has come for MidAmerican to walk its talk and make a plan to retire its coal fleet, starting with their most uneconomic plants. Retiring coal power means cleaner air coming out of a respiratory virus pandemic. Retiring coal means better resilience in the wake of natural disasters. But in order to do all of this, we need to confront the utility that provides us our electrical power.,” said Katie Rock, Campaign Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.
Sierra Club compared MidAmerican Energy to utility trends and portfolios across the country and gave them grades in seven categories: Building Clean Energy, Cutting Emissions, Retiring Dirty Coal, Equitable Access, Energy Efficiency, Transportation Electrification, and Transparency & Public Engagement.
As an overall grade, Sierra Club assigned MidAmerican a “D.” The group recognizes that MidAmerican has built a lot of wind generation, but it’s done so without also transitioning away from fossil fuels. MidAmerican is one of the largest utilities in the country with no commitment to reducing carbon emissions and remains the single largest carbon polluter in Iowa. MidAmerican has no plans to retire any of the 5 huge coal plants the company operates in Iowa, despite the fact it has an excess of coal power to meet customer needs. MidAmerican has lagged in support for low to moderate income customers, and the company gutted energy efficiency programs in recent years. The utility has installed charging stations across Iowa while also standing against rulings to make electrification easier for other businesses. MidAmerican has continuously refused to engage in public transparency and input. A “D” overall was reasoned because building wind turbines without a public plan to move beyond fossil fuels is not enough for the health of Iowans and our climate.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.