Center for Rural Affairs officials are concerned with the passage of legislation in the Iowa House last week to restrict transmission project development. The House advanced a bill that says the Iowa Utilities Board shall rescind approval of any project that does not move forward within three years of its initial hearing. Center’s Public Policy Director Jonathan Hladik says the measure is bad public policy.
He says another problem with the legislation is it doesn’t encourage developers to work with local communities on their projects.
Hladik is hoping the legislation doesn’t clear committee in the Iowa Senate. He says they already have good state rules for transmission projects and this bill isn’t needed.
Hladik says while supporters of the House legislation were concerned about eminent domain, he doesn’t see that as a major problem dictating this measure. He says while his group opposes the use of eminent domain, only about 5-percent of the cases involving transmission projects use it.
