I find it interesting that while MidAmerican is making all this profit, its petition for a rate "adjustment" states that the reason for the adjustment is that MidAmerican's return on equity fell to 8.94% for 2011. The petition claims that the rate freeze agreement MidAmerican has with the IUB says MidAmerican can "exit" the rate freeze if its return on equity falls below 10%. MidAmerican blames the fall in its return on equity to the increased cost of coal and the cost of EPA regulations. To any reasonable person this would mean that you move away from coal. Although MidAmerican has built a lot of wind capacity in the last several years, most of that wind energy is being sold out of state to satisfy the higher renewable energy standards of the states surrounding Iowa. Wally Taylor -----Original Message----- From: Mike Carberry <[log in to unmask]> To: IOWA-TOPICS <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thu, Feb 23, 2012 11:08 am Subject: PLEASE HELP STOP A MIDAMERICAN ENERGY RATE HIKE TODAY!! WhileMidAmerican makes billions, they want more of your money! The Iowa Utilities Board has scheduled a series of public meetings to gather input on MidAmerican Energy’s plans to increase electric rates 4 percent this year to cover rising costs. The Iowa Utilities Board will hold six meetings across the state from Feb. 23 to March 13 for customers to provide public comments on a proposed electric rate increase to be filed next week by MidAmerican Energy. At these meetings, customers will be able to provide comments and ask questions directly of representatives for the IUB, MEC, and the Office of Consumer Advocate, which represents consumers’ general interests in IUB proceedings. The meetings include: • February 23, at 5:30 p.m., Iowa Utilities Board, John Norris Hearing Room, 1375 E. Court Avenue, Des Moines. • February 28 at 5:30 p.m., Modern Woodmen Park, Suites 10 and 11, 209 South Gaines Street, Davenport. • March 1 at 5:30 p.m., Waterloo Center for the Arts, Petersen Town Hall, 225 Commercial Street, Waterloo. • March 6 at 5:30 p.m., Briar Cliff University, Stark Student Center, Clare Room, 3303 Rebecca Street, Sioux City. • March 8 at 5:30 p.m., Johnson County Fairgrounds, Montgomery Hall, 4261 Oak Crest Hill Road SE, Iowa City. • March 13 at 5:30 p.m., Council Bluffs Public Library, Rooms A & B, 400 Willow Avenue, Council Bluffs. The IUB’s decision on permanent rates in this case is anticipated by late December 2012. MEC serves about 637,700 electric customers in Iowa. The company says the increase is necessary to recover rising environmental requirements and energy production cost. Iowa law allows utilities to impose rate increases on a temporary basis until regulators make a final decision. MidAmerican Energy is the state’s largest utility with 770,000 customers. It’s operating under a rate freeze that preserves rates until 2013. The company, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, Neb., hasn’t raised base electric rates in 16 years. Talking Points Hold on to your wallets! This is just the beginning.MidAmerican is asking for a 4 percent rate increase now and another 2 percentin Jan. 2013. If the Iowa Senate approves the “Construction Work in Progress”(CWIP) nuclear bill in front of it, MidAmerican would be allowed to raiseelectric rates on Iowa consumers in advance to fund risky nuclear reactors thatmay never be built. Nuclear rate hikes would be enormous If the nuclear bill isapproved, the Iowa Utilities Board estimates that electric rates will rise by10 percent for every billion dollars spent by MidAmerican on new nuclearreactors. With new reactors priced at over $12 billion, electric rates couldmore than double in just a few years. Why should Iowans pay for raised rateswhen the reactors may not ever be built? How much moreprofit does MidAmerican need? MidAmerican made $1.24billion in profit in 2010, including $279 million from its Iowa operationsalone. Does MidAmerican really need to make evenmore money off the backs of Iowan ratepayers? MidAmerican’s rate hikes burden the elderly and thepoor Electric rate increasesdisproportionally impact the people who can least afford them. People on fixedincome, the elderly and the poor will be hit the hardest as they spend a largerpercentage of their income on electricity. Where was MidAmerican’s environmental concern for thepast decade? MidAmerican has been makingmassive profits for years, but now claim that environmental regulations areforcing it to raise rates. They should have been using some of their billionsof dollars of profits to improve their electric generation and make it lessharmful to public health and our environment. MidAmerican was happy to makeprofits while polluting, now they should be forced to use those profits toaddress they pollution they are making. All kinds of Iowans oppose nuclear rate hikes A Des Moines Register poll releasedon February 21 showed that 77 percent of Iowans oppose the nuclear bill thatwould allow MidAmerican to jack up the electric rates on Iowans in advance forthe costs of planning and building nuclear reactors. It’s no surprise thatgroups as varied as business interests, environmentalists and the local AARPare opposed to this unwise plan. We should learn from the Fukushima disaster The nuclear disaster inFukushima, Japan is approaching its first anniversary and shows us the realdangers posed by nuclear reactors. The MidAmerican rate increase and nuclearproposal is an insult to Iowa consumers and ignores the lessons we should takefrom the Fukushima tragedy. Produced by Friends ofthe Earth Mike Carberry Green State Solutions-Director Friends of the Earth-Iowa Nuclear Campaigner 319-594-6453 [log in to unmask] www.foe.org Please consider the environment before printing this email. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:[log in to unmask] out our Listserv Lists support site for more information:http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.aspSign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagshipe-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club'slatest news and activities. Subscribe and view recenteditions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. 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