Latest IA-Sen news: taxes, spending, and problem solving

by: desmoinesdem

Wed May 22, 2013 at 11:15:00 AM CDT

Bruce Braley explains his support for Keystone XL

by: desmoinesdem

Thu Apr 25, 2013 at 09:45:00 AM CDT

A Bleeding Heartland reader contacted Braley about his support for Keystone XL and shared the congressman's reply. I've posted it after the jump, along with information challenging some of Braley's assertions.

IA-01: Swati Dandekar speculation thread

by: desmoinesdem

Wed Apr 24, 2013 at 07:55:00 AM CDT

Bruce Braley is no Tom Harkin

by: desmoinesdem

Sat Apr 20, 2013 at 16:45:00 PM CDT

The under-the-radar but more important news is that during a meeting of the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week, Braley joined conservative Democrats and all the Republicans to vote for H.R. 3, a bill mandating approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. An Energy and Commerce Committee press release explaining the purpose of this bill is after the jump.

For now let's leave aside the many environmental arguments against building the Keystone XL pipeline, and the big problems with the State Department's draft environmental impact statement on the project.

Braley is smart enough to know that Keystone XL won't create the thousands of jobs proponents claim. In fact, the pipeline is more likely to increase than decrease gasoline prices in the Midwest. Maybe Braley's longstanding support for Keystone XL is a gesture toward the labor unions that support the project, or maybe it's more convenient to vote for fake jobs than to explain why the jobs propaganda is wrong. Most of the House Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee oppose this bill. Braley's companions, aside from the committee Republicans, were John Barrow of Georgia, Gene Green of Texas, and Jim Matheson of Utah. They aren't pro-labor but have extremely poor voting records on the environment, a lot worse than Braley's.

Harkin has always been a strong supporter of organized labor, but he didn't let that cloud his judgment on Keystone XL. He has voted against that project repeatedly, most recently during the Senate's federal budget "vote-o-rama" last month. Iowa will be worse off without Harkin in the Senate.

UPDATE: Corrected the second paragraph to note that Braley voted for this bill when the full Energy and Commerce Committee approved it on April 17, not during the subcommittee meeting the previous day. Corrected the fourth paragraph to note that three other House Democrats supported the bill during the full committee vote. Added more details on the case against this bill after the jump.  

Iowa Court Ruling Favors Distributed Generation

by: greggheide

Tue Apr 16, 2013 at 13:25:04 PM CDT

Today (April 12), Midwest Energy News ran the first coverage I've seen on an Iowa district court ruling in favor of allowing solar installers to install PV systems on a customers property and enter into a power purchase agreement with that customer.While great news, I'll explain why you may not want to get overly excited over this development. I'll apologize in advance for sounding like a grumpy curmudgeon. I'm a fun guy,Really!!

There are reasons I'm sounding glass half empty here. First, this ruling could be appealed (and over turned by a higher court). This happened in 2005 when the Iowa Supreme Court reversed its ruling that required rural electric cooperatives to offer net metering. Let"s hope this recent ruling fares better. Still, as the good folks quoted in the article note, this decision will no doubt influence other court and utility commission rulings around the country. That's good news.

The next reason I'm only moderately excited here is that this ruling only affects one financing method for solar PV, not any of the underlying regulatory changes necessary for its use to become widespread in Iowa. Many Iowans don't have access to net metering or standard interconnection procedures (investor owned utilities only, not RECs and Municipals). They also can't get a fair price for electricity sales. Remember that feed in tariff legislation I've been blogging about? The state Senate Democrats were unable to bring SF372 to the senate floor for a vote. Chalk up another one for the utility lobby. So, if you're dealing with any or all of these issues, you probably don't care much about leasing a PV system. Your potential PV system salesman won't be very interested either.

Also, there are ways to structure a lease agreement without entering into a Power Purchase agreement with your PV salesman. Ideally, leases should also save you money over your current monthly electric bill and eventually enable you the option to own the asset. Leasing does have its place, schools, hospital, and other non-profit entities will be interested for sure.

Finally, my opinion is that third party PPA leasing will be mostly used by customers interconnecting to Alliant energy, a utility with relatively high Iowa retail electric rates, net metering, and standard interconnection procedures. I see this as a continuation of the unequal experience Iowans have when trying build renewable energy systems. Solar installs in Alliant Energy service territory have become fairly easy and will become commonplace. Iowans working with other Iowa utilities could have more difficulties or find out it is almost impossible to build the same system. This unequal treatment for Iowa ratepayers will most likely result in more constituent calls to Iowa legislators to fix these regulatory issues and level the playing field in Iowa. Hopefully Iowa policy advocates will also unite and send a clear message to Iowa legislators about the policy changes Iowa needs to advance locally owned renewable energy. This court ruling should help move our state in the right direction.

 Gregg Heide

renewablefarmerblogspot.com 

Latest Obama cabinet appointments: Energy and EPA

by: desmoinesdem

Tue Mar 05, 2013 at 07:10:00 AM CST

McCarthy has served as the EPA's top air quality official since 2009. Because she is well-qualified for the position and committed to making the country's air cleaner, environmentalists are excited about this choice. I hope that Obama is not merely "promoting a climate change champion" to soften the blow when he approves the KeystoneXL pipeline. The State Department's draft report on KeystoneXL whitewashed the impact that project would have on the environment.  

Also yesterday, Obama formally nominated Sylvia Matthews Burwell to be the new director of the Office of Management and Budget. The White House announcement notes, "She served as Deputy Director of the OMB from 1998 to 2001, as well as Deputy Chief of Staff to the President and Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration." UPDATE: I should have added that Burwell is a former president of the Gates Foundation's Global Development Program, and that her most recent job was running the Wal-Mart Foundation.

The president has not yet announced his picks to run the departments of Labor, Transportation, or Commerce.

Weekend open thread: Frightening news

by: desmoinesdem

Sun Feb 24, 2013 at 10:42:06 AM CST

To get the conversation started, I've posted some scary or disturbing news after the jump.

Iowa Congressional voting on the environment: Not a pretty picture

by: desmoinesdem

Thu Feb 21, 2013 at 10:55:00 AM CST

Mid-week open thread, with latest Obama cabinet news

by: desmoinesdem

Wed Feb 20, 2013 at 20:25:00 PM CST

Florida Governor Rick Scott is the latest Republican governor to decide to expand Medicaid under the 2010 health care reform law. He was one of those leading the charge to have the law declared unconstitutional. Some comments from today's press conference are after the jump as well. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, Ohio Governor John Kasich and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder are all Republicans who opposed the Obama administration policy but have agreed to expand Medicaid in their states. I hope that when Iowa Governor Terry Branstad meets with U.S. Health and Human Services officials later this week, he will find some face-saving way to agree to expand Medicaid here. So far he sounds determined to resist the policy, despite the consensus of every major Iowa medical group as well as a wide array of religious and social justice organizations.

This is an open thread: all topics welcome.

Bruce Rastetter tried to educate distinguished Iowa professor

by: desmoinesdem

Tue Feb 19, 2013 at 16:09:32 PM CST

MidAmerican and Iowa wind farm property tax

by: greggheide

Mon Feb 18, 2013 at 13:16:12 PM CST

State of the Union and Rubio response discussion thread

by: desmoinesdem

Tue Feb 12, 2013 at 18:43:08 PM CST

UPDATE: Highlights from the speeches and reaction from the Iowans in Congress are after the jump.

I find it depressing that when I came home to catch up on the news, the blogosphere and twitterverse were obsessing over Rubio taking a drink of water during his remarks. So sue him, he's not the most camera-savvy politician in Washington (yet). Who cares?

Cleaner air coming near three of Iowa's largest coal-fired power plants

by: desmoinesdem

Wed Jan 23, 2013 at 09:50:00 AM CST

Follow me after the jump for details on this very big news for Iowa air quality.

Weekend open thread: Money matters

by: desmoinesdem

Sun Jan 13, 2013 at 08:19:45 AM CST

After the jump I've posted a bunch of links about finances and spending, large and small.

Iowa lawmakers should advance renewable energy policy

by: greggheide

Sun Jan 06, 2013 at 17:15:11 PM CST

Iowans stand ready to invest in and build these types of renewable energy facilities. However, development of this type lags behind other states and countries, despite the fact that Iowa has excellent wind, solar, and biomass resources. The reason for this is that Iowa lawmakers have not made the policy changes necessary for them to proceed. DG simply needs a fair price for the electricity produced and simple procedures for interconnecting to the electric grid. Iowa lawmakers have declined to take this issue up for several years, fearing the wrath of the utility lobby. Since 2005, Iowa legislators have only been willing to encourage DG in Iowa with several, mostly ineffective incentive programs. The main programs are a tax credit program passed in 2005 to encourage distributed wind energy and a tax credit for solar PV passed in the 2012 legislative session. DG systems need fair treatment from Iowa Utilities, not subsidized, in order to move forward.

Let's look a little deeper.  

Obama cabinet changes discussion thread

by: desmoinesdem

Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 19:25:00 PM CST

Any comments about the cabinet are welcome in this thread.

Highway 100 extension in Linn County named a "worst transportation project"

by: desmoinesdem

Thu Dec 20, 2012 at 06:30:00 AM CST

Weekend open thread: Kerry to Secretary of State edition

by: desmoinesdem

Sun Dec 16, 2012 at 07:40:00 AM CST

CNN reported yesterday that as expected, Obama will now name Senator John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. I had concerns about Rice in that job because of her financial interest in seeing the Keystone XL oil pipeline completed. But it was phenomenally stupid for Obama administration officials to leak that Kerry was plan B for secretary of state. That gave Senate Republicans every incentive to throw a temper tantrum over Rice. A special election in Massachusetts means just-defeated Scott Brown has a chance to come back to the Senate. Surprise, surprise: Republicans are going to confirm Kerry with no problems.

Although Obama hasn't caved yet on letting some of the Bush tax cuts expire, the president still has a bad habit of rewarding people who don't deal with him in good faith. Senate Republicans had no problem confirming Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state in 2005, even though she had been national security adviser at the time the Bush administration failed to anticipate and prevent the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington. Obama acknowledged what he called "unfair and misleading attacks" on Susan Rice, yet he is giving Republicans a chance to narrow the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate anyway.

This is an open thread: all topics welcome.

Congress approves bill affecting Marshalltown Lennox plant (updated)

by: desmoinesdem

Fri Dec 07, 2012 at 11:10:00 AM CST

UPDATE: President Barack Obama signed the bill on December 18.

Pre-election Iowa Congressional voting news roundup

by: desmoinesdem

Mon Oct 01, 2012 at 09:23:32 AM CDT

Follow me after the jump for a review of how the Iowans voted (or did not vote) on the most significant legislation that came up during the past few weeks.