Six Iowa Communities Move Forward in Taking Control of their Electric Systems

After passing referendums, six small communities in Iowa have filed regulatory petitions with the Iowa Utilities Board to drop their current electric supplier and form municipally-owned electric utilities.

The six cities are Everly, Kalona, Rolfe, Terril, Titonka and Wellman. They currently get their electricity services from Interstate Power and Light (Alliant Energy) but their residents voted to sever the ties with the incumbent utility.

The American Public Power Association reported that in Everly (pop. 650), summer electric rates are about 13.9 cents per kilowatt-hour and that nearby cities that own their electric utilities have rates around seven cents per kWh. Everly will use its prior experience in taking control of its natural gas utility service from an incumbent utility in the 1990s. The process took nearly a decade.

If successful in their bids to uncouple from their utility, the cities will have to purchase the distribution lines and equipment from Interstate Power and then find a supplier of electricity or develop their own power plants.

Interstate Power and Light spokespersons say that the efforts of the cities to municipalize their electric services are a mistake. The utility says that it appears to be a move by the cities to raise additional revenues to supplement ongoing state budget cuts to local governments. Interstate says that the economic assumptions that the cities are relying on are flawed and that a take over may create unforseen reliability issues on the grid.

For more information see our previous story from December 2004

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Ford Encouraged to Develop Flex-Fueled Plug-in Vehicles

Ford Motor Company has recently launched a web site to reach out to potential customers for feedback. David Morris inaugurates a point/counterpoint section of their site with a column titled, "Ford Should Build Flexible Fueled, Plug in Hybrids."

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City of Portland Enacts Local Renewable Fuels Standard

The city of Portland, OR, has established a mandate that requires minimum blends of biodiesel and ethanol in petroleum-based fuels sold within the city and requires city-owned vehicles to maximize use of renewable fuels.

The Portland City Council voted July 12, 2006 to approve a citywide renewable fuels standard (RFS) beginning July 2007 that requires a minimum 5 percent blend of biodiesel for all diesel fuel sold in the city limits. Gasoline sold in the city is required to contain at least 10 percent ethanol. In addition, the RFS for biodiesel rises to 10 percent blends as of July 2010.

The ordinance provides a schedule of financial penalties for non-compliance. There is an exemption from meeting the biodiesel requirements if a service station provides at least one pump containing a 20 percent biodiesel blend. The requirements of this RFS do not apply to fuel used for the operation of railroad locomotives, watercraft or aircraft.

The new RFS ordinance also requires that City-owned vehicles that operate on diesel use biodiesel blends of not less than 20 percent and City-owned flex-fuel vehicles must use E-85 fuels.

The council has directed the City's Commissioner of Public Safety to convene a work group to develop further recommendations to "align the requirements of this ordinance with the region’s ability to meet the mandated biofuel demand while maximizing the use of regional feedstock."

NOTE FROM DEMOCRATIC ENERGY: While we applaud this pioneering effort to establish a local renewable fuels standard we urge other cities that may copy this approach to consider broadening the definition of renewable fuels to include renewable electricity. We can envision a day where plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will become mainstream and if they can be re-fueled using renewable energy technologies they should certainly be able to qualify for meeting any renewable fuels standard.

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Podcast: Discussion of State Policy Supporting Biofueled PHEVs

Hear ILSR vice president David Morris talking to Inside Renewable Energy on the successful campaign for a new law in Minnesota that requires the state to give priority to plug-in hybrid vehicles and to take steps toward establishing a flexible fuel vehicle industry.

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