MidAmerican Energy Co. is holding meetings with landowners and
residents in two locations in Iowa as part of a nuclear energy
assessment study.
About 40 residents in Fremont County in western Iowa and a
similar number in Muscatine County in eastern Iowa received
invitations.
MidAmerican will discuss the purpose of soil samples the
company is gathering for the study to assess the viability of nuclear
generation in Iowa.
Spokeswoman Tina Potthoff says the company is taking five
soil borings of nearly 100 feet deep in both locations. She says no
decisions have been made to build a nuclear plant.
The Legislature in 2010 passed a bill allowing MidAmerican to recover up to $15 million in study costs from Iowa electric customers.
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Showing posts with label Iowa nuclear plant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iowa nuclear plant. Show all posts
Friday, September 21, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Iowa: Nuclear Plant Bill Passes Important Hurdle
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A bill allowing MidAmerican Energy to seek permission from regulators to move forward with a nuclear power plant has passed a Senate committee.
The panel approved the measure 8 to 7 Tuesday night. It would allow MidAmerican to ask the Iowa Utilities Board for a rate increase from the company's customers to fund the cost of permitting, licensing, and building a plant. Costs for such a project have been estimated at $2 billion.
Organizations opposed to nuclear power implored lawmakers to kill the bill. The plan passed the House 68-30 last year but didn't get a Senate vote.
Sen. Matt McCoy says he's pursing nuclear power because many existing coal plants are old and may have to be shut down. He says nuclear is one option that should be considered.
LINK
The panel approved the measure 8 to 7 Tuesday night. It would allow MidAmerican to ask the Iowa Utilities Board for a rate increase from the company's customers to fund the cost of permitting, licensing, and building a plant. Costs for such a project have been estimated at $2 billion.
Organizations opposed to nuclear power implored lawmakers to kill the bill. The plan passed the House 68-30 last year but didn't get a Senate vote.
Sen. Matt McCoy says he's pursing nuclear power because many existing coal plants are old and may have to be shut down. He says nuclear is one option that should be considered.
LINK
Friday, March 9, 2012
Committee members' absence delays Iowa nuclear plant hearing
A Senate panel on Thursday canceled a hearing on a measure involving plans to build a nuclear power plant.
Commerce Committee chairman Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, said he lacked the votes needed to pass a bill intended to aid planning for MidAmerican Energy’s proposed nuclear plant in Iowa.
The proposal initially was expected to pass by a single vote, and its prospects dimmed further when some committee members were unable to attend Thursday’s meeting.
If the committee approved the amended bill, which now requires MidAmerican to build the plant if the Iowa Utilities Board approves it, the matter would go to the full Senate, where its future is uncertain. The Senate bill is substantially different than the one passed earlier by the House.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, has spoken favorably about the bill. But he isn’t sure how the Democrat-controlled Senate will respond to the committee legislation, he said.
“I’ll do the same thing I do with any bill,” Gronstal said. “I’ll take it to the members and see if there are enough votes to pass it. They don’t want to talk about it until it gets out of committee.”
The legislation, House File 561, does not directly raise utility rates or approve a license for the project, which also would have to be approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The House version would allow MidAmerican to charge customers for some work before the plant is built, which has brought stiff opposition from AARP and environmental groups.
Environmentalists contend the bill would allow MidAmerican to charge customers even if the plant never were built. They contend the plant isn’t needed, and they say the nuclear disaster in Japan is evidence power companies should look to alternative energy and conservation for new power, not nuclear.
MidAmerican says nuclear is a safe and cheap way to meet growing demands. If the plant isn’t built, the utility would consider a natural gas-powered facility, but utility leaders fear rapidly changing prices for gas.
McCoy said the Senate version has more protections for consumers, not allowing MidAmerican to charge customers until the Iowa Utilities Board rules it is feasible and approves the financing package.
“We think this protects consumers,” McCoy said.
McCoy said the committee meeting will be rescheduled next week.
Committee members' absence delays Iowa nuclear plant hearing
A Senate panel on Thursday canceled a hearing on a measure involving plans to build a nuclear power plant.
Commerce Committee chairman Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, said he lacked the votes needed to pass a bill intended to aid planning for MidAmerican Energy’s proposed nuclear plant in Iowa.
The proposal initially was expected to pass by a single vote, and its prospects dimmed further when some committee members were unable to attend Thursday’s meeting.
If the committee approved the amended bill, which now requires MidAmerican to build the plant if the Iowa Utilities Board approves it, the matter would go to the full Senate, where its future is uncertain. The Senate bill is substantially different than the one passed earlier by the House.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, has spoken favorably about the bill. But he isn’t sure how the Democrat-controlled Senate will respond to the committee legislation, he said.
“I’ll do the same thing I do with any bill,” Gronstal said. “I’ll take it to the members and see if there are enough votes to pass it. They don’t want to talk about it until it gets out of committee.”
The legislation, House File 561, does not directly raise utility rates or approve a license for the project, which also would have to be approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The House version would allow MidAmerican to charge customers for some work before the plant is built, which has brought stiff opposition from AARP and environmental groups.
Environmentalists contend the bill would allow MidAmerican to charge customers even if the plant never were built. They contend the plant isn’t needed, and they say the nuclear disaster in Japan is evidence power companies should look to alternative energy and conservation for new power, not nuclear.
MidAmerican says nuclear is a safe and cheap way to meet growing demands. If the plant isn’t built, the utility would consider a natural gas-powered facility, but utility leaders fear rapidly changing prices for gas.
McCoy said the Senate version has more protections for consumers, not allowing MidAmerican to charge customers until the Iowa Utilities Board rules it is feasible and approves the financing package.
“We think this protects consumers,” McCoy said.
McCoy said the committee meeting will be rescheduled next week.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Iowa: Lawmaker says deal struck on nuclear power bill
Sen. Matt McCoy, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said his panel will approve the compromise Thursday.
"We have the votes," McCoy, D-Des Moines, told The Associated Press. "We have a consumer-friendly amendment."
The compromise would require that MidAmerican, Iowa's largest utility, have financing in place before beginning construction of a nuclear power plant. Once state regulators approve a new plant, the utility would have to carry out construction.
Some legislators had worried earlier versions of the measure would allow the utility to raise rates to pay for the plant, without being committed to actually building the facility. They said consumers could end up with higher rates, and no new power plant to show for it.
Lawmakers reached the agreement even as opponents held a Statehouse news conference, where they argued that nuclear plants are inherently dangerous.
Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, was among the speakers at the event, timed to mark the upcoming anniversary of the March 11 meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. The accident occurred after a massive earthquake caused a tsunami that knocked out power to the plant.
Hogg said he didn't share McCoy's confidence that the Iowa measure would be debated on the Senate floor.
"I would be surprised if it moved, but it's obviously still a live round," Hogg said.
Francis Thicke, a farmer and environmental activist from Fairfield, said the compromise backed by McCoy only dealt with the potential financial risks of the proposed nuclear plant.
"My concern is the whole environmental issue and they are not addressing the environment," Thicke said.
The incentives for developing another nuclear power plant cleared the House last year, but the proposal has been stalled in the Senate and backers had feared it wouldn't be approved as the Legislature moved toward adjournment next month.
MidAmerican spokeswoman Ann Thelen was cautious about the agreement, saying the deal was just struck Tuesday and officials have not had a chance to review it.
As head of the Commerce Committee, McCoy controls which issues are debated, and he's scheduled his panel to take up the nuclear plant bill Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said no decision had been made about the measure if it wins committee approval.
"It's available for the rest of the session," Gronstal said. "We may or may not debate it."
LINK
Friday, January 27, 2012
Iowa nuclear bill resurrected; moves ahead
3:22 PM, Jan 26, 2012 by Jason Clayworth
A legislative proposal outlining steps for MidAmerican Energy to build an Iowa nuclear plant – one of last year’s most controversial bills – was resurrected, tweaked and approved in a bipartisan vote this afternoon by a Senate subcommittee.
Critics were angered.
“The nuclear industry and MidAmerican Energy specifically would have us believe that nuclear power is clean, safe and cheap when in actuality it is very dangerous and expensive,” said Mike Carberry, an Iowa member of Friends of the Earth, an environmental group based in Washington, D.C.
House File 561 outlines how the Iowa Utilities Board should proceed with rate-making principles should a rate-regulated public utility move forward with plans to build a nuclear plant.
Advocates say the legislation is needed so that Iowa can move forward with diversifying its energy sources and averting a potential energy crisis.
“This bill represents just another piece of that journey to create a more diverse energy sources for our citizens of the state of Iowa,” said John Gilliland, senior vice president of government relations of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
The bill does not call for any tax or rate increases but critics contend that it shifts overwhelming financial risks onto ratepayers who could potentially be stuck paying millions of dollars in extra costs.
American is considering a 540-megawatt nuclear plant to be built at an unspecified Iowa site. The company expects its cost share to be $1 billion to $2 billion.
Groups like the AARP say the costs could rise substantially.
Mark Cooper of the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School released a report last year that suggested the costs could be as much as $50 a month to the average customer, which MidAmerican rejected. MidAmerican estimates an extra cost of $7.60 a month.
The bill passed the House last year but failed to advance in the Senate. A Senate Commerce subcommittee today revised the bill to allow the utilities board more ability to determine if a plan is prudent, allowing it to reject a request for ratemaking principles.
Critics were not satisfied, noting a recent memo from the state’s utilities division that says the proposal would shift nearly all construction, licensing and permitting risks to customers.
Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines and chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said his feelings on the bill are mixed. MidAmerican hasn’t raised rates in nearly two decades, an indication that they are responsible. In addition, the bill would help the state tap into roughly $500 million of federal money available to states exploring nuclear expansions, he noted.
Sen. Pat Ward, R-West Des Moines, and Sen. Tom Rielly, D-Oskaloosa. expressed similar thoughts. The bill unanimously passed the three-person subcommittee.
It now heads to the full committee, where it will be considered Tuesday. The revised bill must pass the full Senate and House before it is eligible to be signed by Gov. Terry Branstad.
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