Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says the new limit she’s approved on utility fees that finance energy efficiency programs doesn’t detract from the Iowa Energy Plan she released about a year and a half ago.
Reynolds signed legislation last Friday that places a two percent cap on the charge on electric bills that’s used to finance rebates and other incentives for customers who replace old appliances, install new windows or take other steps to make their homes and businesses more energy efficient. MidAmerican Energy announced its customers will now pay about 90 million dollars less for energy efficiency programs as a result of the change.
A 1990 Iowa law established the utility-run energy efficiency programs, but the charges that supported the programs have not been disclosed on electric and gas bills. Some charges were as high as nine percent, tacked onto customers’ utility bills. The new law requires electric and gas bills to show the assessment, which is now capped at two percent.
