Two Iowa business owners joined a statehouse news conference to voice their opposition to a bill that would change Iowa energy efficiency programs. Jennifer Steffensmeier is president of Steffensmeier Welding and Manufacturing in Pilot Grove. She says the bill would hurt businesses like hers that depend on utility company rebates to make their operations more energy efficient.
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Her firm recently spent 20-thousand dollars installing energy efficient light bulbs. She says the nine-thousand dollar rebate from Alliant Energy for that light-bulb switch made it do-able, but the bill would reduce rebates in the future. Abraham Lamark owns L and L Home Solutions. The Des Moines firm installs insulation in homes after a MidAmerican Energy audit and helps homeowners fill out the paperwork to get MidAmerican rebates.
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Lamark says his company would go out of business if the bill becomes law and he predicts many of the 21-thousand Iowans who work in companies that are involved in energy efficiency projects would lose their jobs, too.