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 - 32 co-op leaders gathered in the nation’s capital to talk to Iowa’s congressional delegation about cap-and-trade legislation -

          On Sept. 29, Iowa Sens. Grassley and Harkin received hard copy lists and electronic files of electric co-op member-consumers who signed approximately 75,000 postcards asking the senators to ensure that cap-and-trade legislation keeps electric bills affordable.

          On Sept. 28, co-op leaders delivered the postcards to the senators’ district offices in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Sioux City and Waterloo. In addition to delivering the lists personally to Sens. Grassley and Harkin and talking with them, co-op leaders also met with Iowa Reps. Braley, Boswell, Loebsack, King and Latham.

          “The main thing electric co-op member-consumers expressed in the postcards is that they want the senators to make sure electric bills are kept affordable,” said Marion Denger, board president of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives. “The other two most important things are that cap-and-trade legislation must fair to the Midwest, and that carbon emissions limits are achievable because they are based on proven technology.”

            Denger, a farmer from Dows and also president of Prairie Energy Cooperative, is one of 32 co-op leaders to travel to Washington, D.C., to talk with members of Iowa’s congressional delegation. Brian Kading, executive vice president and general manager of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives, also was in the nation’s capital with Denger. 

            “We are here to help Iowa’s congressional delegation be fully aware of how important this issue is to electric co-op member-consumers,” Kading said. “We’re also here to send the message that we are supportive of legislation that helps reduce carbon dioxide, but changes are needed in the current bill for us to support it, because right now, it’s not fair to Iowa or the Midwest, and it will make electric bills more expensive. That’s not good for Iowans or the state’s economy.”

           Electric cooperatives in Iowa provide electricity in each of the state’s 99 counties to approximately 650,000 people. The Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives, www.iowarec.org, headquartered in Urbandale, was established in 1942 to provide support services to member co-ops of the association, which today is comprised of 44 electric co-ops.