Is there any other kind of business deal anymore? After all, we must feed the monopolies.
Donna
On Mar 18, 2011, at 7:43 PM, gerald neff <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Sounds like a win, win situation for MidAmerican and lose, lose situation for everyone else. This kind of business deal is absurd. Jerry Neff
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Charles Winterwood <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:08:02 -0500 (CDT)
> Subject: Fw: Enviroscribe: Iowa Environmental News-Proposed new Nuclear Plant
>
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> Enviroscribe: Iowa Environmental News
>
> ________________________________
>
> MidAmerican president: Iowans face 10 percent rate increase for nuclear plant
> Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:28 PM PDT
> MidAmerican Energy customers would see their power bills rise 10 percent over a
> decade to pay for the investor-owned utility’s share of a proposed Iowa nuclear
> plant, the firm’s president told lawmakers Thursday.
> That doesn’t include what the utility would pay for new generation from wind or
> other fuels.
> William Fehrman fielded questions from lawmakers about a proposed 1,000 to
> 1,600 megawatt nuclear plant to be built by MidAmerican and partners at an
> unspecified Iowa site. Among the spots under consideration, Fehrman acknowledged
> Thursday: the area surrounding Iowa’s only nuclear plant,Duane Arnold Energy
> Center in Palo near Cedar Rapids.
> Senators on a commerce subcommittee questioned if the nuclear disaster in Japan
> should delay work in Iowa. Fehrman said the difference between the modular,
> build-in-chunks plant MidAmerican is eyeing and the old technology in Japan is
> like the difference between a smart phone and a rotary dial model. He said the
> bill is needed to keep nuclear as one of the utility’s options and to attract
> investors.
> Regarding rates, Fehrman said Iowans will pay more no matter how the utility
> decides to address energy needs as the state grows and federal environmental
> regulators make burning coal a more expensive proposition.
> “There is no doubt that costs are going to go up,” Fehrman said, noting the
> utility hasn’t raised rates since 1995. “We need to keep them down as much as
> possible.”
> Fehrman said the utility would hold down costs by selling excess power from the
> plant. He added that most of the rate increase attributed to the plant would
> come in the latter part of the decade.
> A recent study by the Illinois Commerce Commission listed nuclear as one of the
> cheapest power-generation options based on the price per kilowatt hour, Fehrman
> said.
> The plant, if approved by the Iowa Utilities Board, would come online in late
> 2020 at the earliest, Fehrman said.
> Sen. Swati Dandekar of Marion said Iowans are concerned about paying for a
> project that may cost more than the utility thinks, given the nation’s record on
> cost overruns at nuclear plants.
> “There is no doubt there is a history of cost overruns in this industry,”
> Fehrman said. “We’ve asked for more oversight of this project, and that’s in the
> bill.”
> MidAmerican is pushing legislation that would set some of the rate-making
> principles to be applied to the plant, in effect telling investors how the
> utility would recover its expenses.
> Opposition to the bill continued to mount Thursday. The Iowa Sierra Club, with
> its lawyer in tow, delivered 160 letters opposing the legislation to Gov. Terry
> Branstad. “At this time of unspeakable tragedy and unimaginable chaos in Japan,
> Iowa is still considering promoting nuclear power,” said Pam Mackey-Taylor, who
> leads the chapter’s energy efforts. “Nuclear energy is not the answer.”
> Only senators were allowed to speak Thursday, but AARP was prepared to speak
> against the bill. “AARP believes it is unfair to consumers and bad policy for
> the Iowa General Assembly to enact legislation that would allow utility
> companies to charge consumers in advance for costs of a new plant before it is
> in service, and require consumers to continue to have to pay even if the plant
> development is canceled, or goes over budget,” the group representing senior
> citizens said in a statement. “AARP is concerned about this legislation, not
> because of the question of nuclear power, but because we oppose raising rates
> for consumers already struggling to afford their utility bills for a plant yet
> to be built, where we don’t know the actual cost to build, and may or may not
> even be built in Iowa.”
> Fehrman acknowledged that ratepayers would cover expenses for the project even
> if it is canceled.
> Representatives of the Iowa Environmental Council attended Thursday’s session.
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