Iowans: Oppose the rate hike for new nuclear reactors

Friends of the Earth and our activists have been fighting a bill in the Iowa state legislature that would raise customers’ electric rates to pay in advance for the construction of new nuclear reactors. This nuclear rate hike bill just passed the Senate Commerce Committee by a slim 8 to 7 vote. Over the past few months, we have worked tirelessly to move senators in the right direction. But we still have a tough fight on our hands — the full Senate may take up the bill as soon as this week.

Iowa electric utility MidAmerican Energy is behind the bill. MidAmerican wants Iowans to foot the bill for new nuclear reactors because banks and investors won’t touch the industry with a ten foot pole. It would be unconscionable for the legislature to force Iowa families and businesses to bear all of the financial risk.

MidAmerican is trying to ram its plan through as soon as possible because it knows that the more Iowans learn about this swindle, the more allies we have in our fight to stop it. A recent Iowa poll indicated that 77 percent of Iowans oppose paying a higher rate to fund new nuclear reactors in Iowa.

The risks of MidAmerican’s plan do not end at customers’ pocketbooks. Nuclear reactors produce deadly waste in the process of generating energy, and as we have seen in Japan, a serious nuclear disaster can have terrible consequences.

Last year, pressure from concerned Iowans convinced senators to buck MidAmerican lobbyists’ demands. And with your help, we can do it again. If you live in Iowa, please tell your state senator: Defend Iowans’ health and their pocketbooks and reject MidAmerican’s effort to raise electricity rates to build dangerous nuclear reactors.

Resources

Our radio ad

Our television ad

Op-eds against the rate hike

Don’t put farms at risk of a nuclear accident — Francis Thicke

On nuclear rate hikes, Iowa can learn from Florida — Mike Fasano

Don’t throw more tax dollars after a failed nuclear dream — Arjun Makhijani