Letter to the Editor: "Let the Decorah City Council proceed with an application to become a Municipal Utility"

(The following Letter to the Editor has been submitted by Kevin Sand of Decorah):

"I think a big factor in the debate about whether to allow the Decorah City Council to proceed with an application to become a municipal utility is whether you trust Alliant Energy, an investor owned utility, to act in your interest to provide electric power at low cost emphasizing renewable energy.
 
1) Alliant Energy refused to cooperate with a local solar field project five years ago that would have benefited local industries.
2) Alliant Energy has provided estimates of the cost of Decorah Power Municipal Power taking over our electric power grid that are wildly cost -inflated
3) When Decorah City Council asked Alliant to hold off on the installation of "smart meters," they put them in anyway, and want to charge homeowners $15 monthly if they do not have them installed.
4) Alliant supports a bill recently passed in the Iowa Senate, bill 2311, that allows energy efficiency programs to be scaled back, and provides a way for investor-owned utilities to raise rates without Iowa Utilities Board approval and may cost Alliant customers in Iowa $139 million more per year.

I think these actions are very appropriate for a large investor-owned company concerned primarily with profit, rather than for the Decorah community.  Please vote 'Yes.'  Let the Decorah City Council proceed with an application to become a Municipal Utility."