Open Letter to Governor Culver,
According to the Wall Street Journal, MidAmerican Energy earned $1.7 billion for Berkshire Hathaway in 2008. And now the company wants state utility customers to pay $15 million to investigate the feasibility of building a nuclear power plant in Iowa.
Why the Iowa State Legislature approved such a backdoor rate increase is hard to understand, but it clearly has more to do with backroom lobbying than any real financial need on the utility's part.
I would urge you to veto the bill and let utility owners, including Berkshire's CEO Warren Buffett, pick up the tab for such a "feasibility study."
In 2007, MidAmerican conducted a very similar feasibility study in Idaho. State utility customers there did not have to ante up state funds to pay the $13 million cost of that nuclear option exploration. A year later, MidAmerican dropped plans for a nuclear plant in Idaho saying it wasn't economically feasible.
According to its own description, MidAmerican Energy's Nuclear Energy Company is looking at the feasbility of "developing nuclear power plants in the United States." Why should Iowans be the only ratepayers (to date) asked to fund a self-described company effort with such a national focus.
Furthermore, MidAmerican's Iowa ratepayers would not benefit from such a nuclear plant, even if it is built. Currently, 40 percent of MidAmerican's electricity is sold to other utilities and wholesale buyers. Asking Iowa customers to finance additional electric generation that profits only MidAmerican owners is entirely unreasonable.
If MidAmerican wants to continue its state-by-state, year-by-year merry go-round of feasibility studies, it should pay for it out of company coffers.
Editor
