Building Local Community Through Arts, Cultural, and Recreational Events, and the Exchange of Goods and Services
Upper Explorerland’s Safe Routes to School is partnering with Decorah Parks and Recreation, Decorah Iowa Scholastic MTB Race Team (DIRT), Decorah Human Powered Trails (DHPT), Decorah Rotary Club, and local EMS members from fire, police and sheriff departments, to offer a bicycle safety and bicycle maintenance event on Thursday, May 1, 2025. The event begins at 5:30pm in the Decorah City Hall Parking Lot, 400 Claiborne Drive.
Effective Friday, April 11, 2025, Smeby’s Trail Head will be closed indefinitely.
Written by Andrew Johnson, Executive Director, and James Martin-Schramm, Policy Analyst at Clean Energy Districts of Iowa
View the original article at cleanenergydistricts.org
“Know when to walk away … Know when to run.”
Kenny Rogers (and songwriter Don Schlitz) had it right – “every hand’s a winner, and every hand’s a loser.” The “secret to surviving” is knowing what to throw, what to keep, and most importantly, when to walk away.
Legislators beware: sixty plus years of nuclear ratepayer robbery (among other forms) is coming to an Iowa community near you, if you don’t re-write or walk away from the Governor’s omnibus energy bill.
The Governor says that her energy bill (HF 834 and SF 585) is a “forward-focused, all-of-the-above energy strategy” for Iowa.
The bill is an all-of-the-above strategy for sure: it is a suite of practices that all will lead to rising rates for Iowa households, businesses, farms, and communities, and empower rising profits for Alliant and MidAmerican monopolist executives and shareholders.
Legislators who choose to represent Iowa ratepayers and communities need to rewrite the bill, or walk away from it now.
Three major changes to the bill would help protect ratepayers from rent-seeking monopolists locking in a generation of rates rising faster than inflation.
We use the cautionary tale of nuclear to illustrate these points, but they apply to all utility capital investments. They are the bare minimum required to rebalance the risk/benefit equation between Iowa ratepayers and monopoly utility executives and shareholders.
The energy bill specifically encourages utilities to propose and regulators to approve new nuclear power generation plants in Iowa – even if the power is for export to other states, and paid for by Iowa ratepayers.
Nuclear may well play an increasingly important role in the clean energy future. But everyone in the industry knows that every new nuclear plant is going to be exorbitantly expensive for at least a decade, even before the massive cost overruns that have plagued recent projects.
This is attractive to the captains of Alliant and MidAmerican, because the more they spend, the more they make for their shareholders. Both companies are already drooling over the possibility of state-guaranteed, near-predatory rates of returns over 60-80 years on tens of billions in nuclear plant investments.
It is possible to go down a nuclear path with strong ratepayer protections, but this bill is not that path. In fact, we’ve been here before. In 2012, HF 561 would have encouraged nuclear in Iowa, awarded Advanced Cost Recovery, gutted regulator oversight in planning, and transferred almost all risk from utility investors to ratepayers. Thank goodness consumer protection groups like AARP kept that door closed.
What happened to Georgia ratepayers should give pause to legislators trying to open it again. The only new nuclear plant to be built this century is the Vogtle Plant, which shows us what nuclear ratepayer robbery looks like:
The current energy bill could well bring this story to Iowa.
Many say the monopoly investor-owned utilities are already too big to regulate. Their armies of financial and legal experts out-resource the regulators, and their lobbying money captures the political process (as in, the bill we’re talking about).
If Iowa legislators want to protect ratepayers rather than facilitate shareholder entitlement, they would do well to remember that God didn’t tell Moses, “Please be nice and don’t take each other’s things.” No, he (or she) laid down the law, and said, “Thou Shalt Not Steal.”
Tweaking the current bill is like a mosquito bite on Goliath. Legislators need to lay down a law that tells regulators, “Thou Shalt Protect Ratepayers,” and give them tools to do so.
Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) can be a meaningful process that helps create a strong electric grid while keeping rates down by ensuring ratepayers only pay for what they really need. Or, it can be an inside job of rigging the system to guarantee high profits to company shareholders, at the expense of ratepayers, as happened in Georgia.
The Governor’s bill gives away the farm. It allows the monopoly utilities to develop IRPs based on “management judgement,” and requires only a “good faith effort” to consider input from ratepayers, stakeholders, the Consumer Advocate, and the Utilities Commission.
To avoid opening the door to endless ratepayer taxation without representation, legislators need to establish the IRP process as a contested docket, and to provide additional ratepayer rights and protections.
Advanced Cost Recovery, also known as Construction Work in Progress, or CWIP, allowed Georgia Power to force ratepayers to pay for the nuclear boondoggle for over a decade before they saw any benefit. CWIP directly contradicts the long-standing best practice in ratemaking that utility assets must be “used and useful” before costs are included in rates.
CWIP isn’t only a concern for nuclear investments. MidAmerican Energy has just submitted an Advanced Ratemaking Principles docket application for 800 MW of solar, which includes a requested 11.25% return on equity for the project as a whole, and what looks very much like a 10% effective return on equity during CWIP.
In analyzing HF 561 in 2011, Iowa Utilities Board staff warned that the bill “would shift nearly all of the construction, licensing, and permitting risk associated with one or more nuclear plants from the company to its customers”, and “could create incentives for the company to engage in behavior that could be contrary to the public interest in certain situations.”
Whether solar or nuclear or other investments are a good deal for ratepayers should be decided in a robust IRP process, and shareholders must shoulder risks together with ratepayers. Regardless of the investment, ratepayers should not be funding shareholder returns prior to receiving the benefits of utility investments, and legislators should enshrine this principle in the current energy bill.
Finally, serious legislators should also address the biggest elephant in the room when it comes to 50 years of increasing monopoly utility profiteering on the backs of ratepayers: highway robbery levels of Return on Equity (ROE).
Warren Buffet is indeed a genius … to a large degree because he is a monopolist. His MidAmerican Energy and counterpart Alliant Energy have been feeding from the trough of regulator-approved ROE levels with no connection to risk level or rate fairness for decades.
The regulatory compact inherent in the state granting monopoly service territories and captive customers to private companies is built on a fundamental principle: that the Rate of Return (ROR) on utility investments should equal the Cost of Capital (COC) invested by shareholders.
Unreasonably high ROEs are draining tens of millions of dollars per year from Iowa ratepayers and communities. Legislators should enshrine the principle that utility Rate of Return = Cost of Capital, and clearly direct regulators to implement the principle in all ratemaking rules and dockets.
These ratemaking reforms are all important, because rate regulation is a bit like whack-a-mole: if the regulatory framework is weak and incomplete, the utilities will find the loopholes and continue to enrich shareholders at the expense of ratepayers and communities, because that is their job.
Well over a million Iowa ratepayers are captive customers of the state’s two monopoly investor-owned electric utilities, Alliant and MidAmerican.
The state creates tremendous moral hazard in granting those exclusive monopolies, which are not subject to competitive market forces.
In exchange, the state owes ratepayers and non-utility stakeholders ironclad protections against rent-seeking behavior, and a powerful seat at the table of rate regulation.
Despite the best intentions of well-informed legislators, the current energy bill fails on both counts. Legislators are gambling with the future of Iowa ratepayers and communities.
It’s a tall order, but the legislators hold the cards to dramatically improve the bill. Barring that, they should walk away sooner rather than later.
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Andrew Johnson is Executive Director of the Clean Energy Districts of Iowa, and a family farmer in Winneshiek County.
James Martin-Schramm is Senior Policy Analyst for the Clean Energy Districts of Iowa and led the “CEDI Coalition” that included 50 Alliant-served communities in the recent Alliant rate increase docket, RPU-2023-0002.
Do you have a question about home energy efficiency, renewable energy, or local energy initiatives? Maybe there’s something that’s always been confusing, or unclear to you? Or a resource that’s hard to find?
Submit your clean energy questions to the Winneshiek Energy District. Questions will be addressed in upcoming newsletters an on our blog.
March 27, 2025
Paul Cutting, Energy Planner
If you’ve been following the national news about electric vehicles (EVs) lately, you might think things are quite dire. There’s concern of the Trump administration’s attempts to eliminate funding for the buildout of a national charging network, fear that tax credits will be eliminated, slowing sales amongst certain manufacturers, and eye-popping used vehicle depreciation.
But the reality is far less bleak, if not outright positive. The EV tax credits for both new and used vehicles remain in place, at least for now, industry wide EV sales continue to grow, and more affordable models with better range and charging capabilities are coming to market every month. For those of you considering an EV, 2025 could be the best time yet to make the switch.
Federal tax credits for both new and used vehicles remain in place. And to displace any concern of whether the tax credits will still be there when you file your taxes next spring, all credits can now be taken as a point of sale reduction in vehicle purchase price. Tax credit availability varies by vehicle model, and are pegged to manufacturing and battery sourcing rules, but many models qualify for between $3,750 and $7,500 in rebates. In many cases, leasing is an even better deal, as the full $7,500 credit applies to all models, regardless of manufacturing and battery sourcing requirements. Many manufacturers are also offering special financing rates and additional cash-back incentives, that coupled together, make leasing more appealing than outright ownership. These incentives make EVs far more competitive with gas-powered cars than sticker prices alone might suggest.
Affordability is improving in another key way— new, mass-market EVs are finally coming to market. The Kia EV3, an affordable small SUV with solid range, underpinned by the Hyundai Electric- Global Modular Platform with its ultra-fast charging capabilities, is expected later this year. Chevrolet is bringing back the Bolt, a budget-friendly option that was one of the best-selling EVs before its temporary discontinuation in 2023. Rivian’s upcoming R2 aims to offer adventure-ready, up-market electric driving at a more accessible price point. Ford has stated that its strategy going forward is small, mass-market EVs, built as both SUVs and small trucks. Other automakers, including Volkswagen and Nissan, have also hinted at lower-cost models in development. 2025 will be the year major manufacturers switch from niche, high-end models to mass market offerings.
Charging has long been a sticking point for potential EV buyers, but that’s changing too. A growing number of manufacturers, including Ford, GM, Kia, Hyundai, Rivian, Nissan, Volvo and others, now have access to Tesla’s extensive Supercharger network. This expansion will significantly increase fast charging options, while reducing range anxiety and making road trips easier. And fast charging is increasingly being rolled out in rural areas like northeast Iowa, as evidenced by 150+ kW chargers being installed at area auto dealers, and the buildout of fast charging regionally at chains like Caseys, Kum & Go, HyVee and Walmart.
While the transition to electric isn’t without its challenges, the overall trend remains unchanged—EVs are getting cheaper, more affordable and easier to charge. The doom-and-gloom doesn’t tell the whole story, and the EV transition continues to roll on.
This free event will be held Tuesday, May 20, 4:30 pm, at the Decorah High School Track. To register, see links below.
In the final weeks of her pregnancy with their third child, Paul and Kirsten Snell of northern Winneshiek County received the devastating news that Kirsten had stage three breast cancer. Despite this, she safely delivered a baby girl and began cancer treatment at Emplify Health by Gundersen in La Crosse shortly after.
“I hoped to continue my chemotherapy infusions at WinnMed in Decorah, and my oncologist worked with their team to make that happen,” Kirsten shared.
One special moment Kirsten looked forward to was ringing a bell at her last appointment. “My mom, Ruth DeJarlais, took my wishes to heart. She very much wanted me to experience the celebratory ring when treatments were complete,” Kirsten explained.
Ruth added, “Ringing the bell after treatment is something Kirsten has known about from family members and friends who have been through it. It meant so much to her that she was willing to schedule her last chemo treatment in La Crosse, where they have a bell. Since 14 of her 16 treatments were at WinnMed and the staff there have become like family, I felt strongly that she should be able to ring the bell in her hometown.”
In her honor, the DeJarlais and Snell families purchased a bell and plaque for Kirsten, and for future WinnMed patients who complete their treatments. Its inaugural ring was on Friday, March 14, following Kirsten’s last treatment.
Marianne Stalberger, nursing supervisor of the WinnMed Surgery & Infusion unit, said, “We get to know our patients – their stories and their goals – and also get to know their families. The Snells are special, and the donation of the bell is meaningful for all of us.”
Join us on Sunday, April 13th, beginning promptly at 3:00 pm, at Will Baker Athletic Fields. Children find plastic eggs filled with candy or prizes and all egg hunters receive participation gifts at the close of the Hunt. The Easter Bunny will also be there so bring your cameras! After you register online, please stop into the Park Rec office to pick up your Easter basket before the 11th!