Letter to the Editor: "Why I support voting YES to look at Alliant's books"

From Steven Olson: "P.S. To the person who loves Alliant soooo much they felt compelled to bend over our "VOTE YES" sign, thank you for giving me the nudge I needed to write this"

(The following Letter to the Editor has been submitted by Steven Olson of Decorah):

"I'll admit, I'm pretty confused about the fervent objection to taking a deeper look at whether a Decorah-owned electric utility would be in our best interest.  After all, this vote doesn't commit the city or anyone for that matter to switch providers. In fact, this vote is just to "open the books" (as I understand it), of a company that has had a monopoly in the city of Decorah for over 100 years.  That's a LONG time to have a monopoly! Why would I just take a corporate monopoly's word that they are doing everything in my self-interest and at the cheapest rates? BTW if you believe this, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn you may be interested in ;)

It seems to me that Alliant has been spreading an overabundance of fear propaganda.  Should I be surprised that they are spending so much money on this? They are just looking out for my best interest…right?  I kinda feel sorry for the shareholders of this company, I mean Alliant must not give a hoot about them, they're so worried about "protecting" me, that they've sent me a long letter and two postcards recently to warn me about the municipal power advocates.

Should I be scared that a civic controlled power company is going to be the end of affordable, reliable electricity in Decorah?  Let me tell you a little bit about a municipal electric company that I have been paying for electricity in Harlan, Iowa the last 9 years.  It's called Harlan Municipal Utilities (they happen to sell us natural gas and water too--shocking I know). Have we ever lost power because of municipal power control?  No.  In fact, Harlan Municipal took it upon themselves to bury electric lines years ago. This means during an ice storm or thunderstorm we don't lose electricity from downed trees.  It's a crazy idea, bury the lines, and the number of storm emergencies go way down. Have I ever had a problem getting HMU (Harlan Municipal Utilities) to show up when I needed them?  No.  In fact, I've needed their assistance on our property several times (we remodeled) and they showed up the day of request EVERY time. Even for things as simple as marking utility lines, they show up within hours.  Now, I know what you're thinking, we must be paying a RIDICULOUS sum for such great service! Here's the kicker, we pay 6 cents a KWH LESS than in Decorah! That's right, 6 cents a KWH LESS. Well, that just has to be wrong?  How can a local municipality provide GREAT service, at such a LOW rate compared to such a great company as Alliant that sends out so many nice mailings and calls us so often? I don't know? Maybe it starts with the fact that according to a quick google search the GM of Harlan Municipal Utilities makes around $130,000 a year and the CEO of Alliant makes about $6,139,954 a year?   Maybe it's because HMU's profits are put immediately back into local infrastructure?  Maybe it's because ultimately HMU answers to the people of Harlan, Iowa, and not to its shareholders?  Whatever the case, you need to ask yourself, 'Why is Alliant so worried about Decorah taking a look at their books?' 

Again, remember a yes vote DOES NOT mean that we switch providers, it simply makes Alliant turn over their books to be examined.  Is this such a bad idea, for a monopoly, once every hundred years or so? Of course they're just protecting me ;)