Dear Friend,

Iowa electric utility MidAmerican Energy is lobbying the Iowa legislature to let it raise customers’ electric rates to pay in advance for the construction of new nuclear reactors. 

This nuclear rate hike bill just passed the Senate Commerce Committee by a slim 8 to 7 vote. If you’ve called or emailed your senators already, it’s having an impact. We have moved senators in the right direction. But we still have a tough fight on our hands and your senator needs to hear from you again -- and now. The full Senate may take up the bill as soon as this week.

It's coming down to the wire. Please email your state senator and urge him or her to reject MidAmerican’s radioactive rate hike.

MidAmerican is trying to ram its plan through as soon as possible because it knows that the more Iowans learn about this swindle, the more allies we have in our fight to stop it. A recent Iowa poll indicated that 77 percent of Iowans oppose paying a higher rate to fund new nuclear reactors in Iowa.

We can’t let up now. Friends of the Earth is on the ground, airing radio ads in the state to sound the alarm, and we need your help.

Tell your state senator to oppose the radioactive rate increase and protect Iowans from dangerous nuclear reactors.

MidAmerican wants Iowans to foot the bill for new nuclear reactors because banks and investors won’t touch the industry with a ten foot pole. It would be unconscionable for the legislature to force Iowa families and businesses to bear all of the financial risk.

Of course, the risks of MidAmerican’s plan do not end at customers’ pocketbooks. Nuclear reactors produce deadly waste in the process of generating energy, and as we have seen in Japan, a serious nuclear disaster can have terrible consequences.

Last year, pressure from you and from other concerned Iowans convinced senators to buck MidAmerican lobbyists' demands. And with your help, we can do it again.

Tell your state senator: Defend Iowans’ health and their pocketbooks and reject MidAmerican’s effort to raise electricity rates to build dangerous nuclear reactors.

Thank you for taking action,
Mike Carberry
Iowa nuclear campaigner, Friends of the Earth