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Ensure fiscal responsibility, economic fairness in energy policy
Would you build a home without knowing what it would cost? Would a bank loan you money for a start-up business without a well-thought out business plan? Would you agree to buy a car without knowing the monthly payment? Of course not. That just wouldn’t make any sense.
Do you support reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Do you expect Iowa’s economy to grow? Do you think energy policy should be fair for Iowans regardless of economic class? Of course. Who doesn’t?
If your answers match these, then you and Iowa’s electric cooperatives share common ground.
At Iowa’s electric cooperatives, we agree that it’s important to address concerns about global climate change. We also agree that new energy policy developed in Iowa must be fair to all Iowans and be based on sound budgeting practices. Iowa law requires a balanced budget, so this shouldn’t be an issue. However, the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council’s final report with options for reducing greenhouse gases, which has been provided to Gov. Culver and will be used as a reference for legislators in developing energy policy, shows that those options have not been fully examined with respect to cost and feasibility.
You may recall that the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council, a governor-appointed body consisting of 23 members from various stakeholder groups was created by the Iowa Legislature in April 2007. I served as the representative for electric cooperatives in Iowa. The law creating the council required it to submit a report in December 2008 to the governor and General Assembly.
The report was based on a template used in other states by the consultant and it does not reflect Iowa-specific cost information. During report development, in many cases, less than 24 hours were provided for review of lengthy documents before council members were required to vote on the language. Substantive concerns expressed specifically by electric utility representatives on the council were either inaccurately captured by the consultant in drafts and the final report or left out altogether. Iowans deserve better.
We’re confident that Gov. Culver and legislators will recognize the problem of moving forward on energy policy development without a more complete understanding of all the facts. After all, electric reliability, the affordability of electricity and the importance of investment in research for new energy technology cannot be left to wishful thinking and half answers.
At any time, it’s not fair for individual Iowans to be subjected to any policies, and subsequent increased costs, which have not been fully vetted, but especially in an economic downturn and especially when the state’s budget circumstances are as unstable as they are right now. If electric prices double, which some folks support because it would likely reduce electricity consumption, it will be a burden to those folks who can least afford it.
If you are interested, the not-for-profit electric cooperatives, along with the investor-owned utilities, government-owned municipal utilities, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Iowa Utilities Board, filed documents expressing concerns about the report. You can read them at http://www.iaclimatechange.us/ewebeditpro/items/O90F20582.pdf on the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council’s Web site http://www.iaclimatechange.us/ where you also can read the full report.
If we only have one chance to get this right and we can’t afford to be wrong, as some people have said, policy makers owe it to us to make fully informed decisions based on a full range of facts, not wishful thinking and half answers.
Roxanne Carisch represented the interests of the member-consumer-owners of electric cooperatives on the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council. She is chief executive officer of Calhoun County Electric Cooperative Association in Rockwell City, which is a member of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives.
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