Six Decorah businesses have signed a letter in opposition to a Decorah municipal electric utility

Decorah Mayor Lorraine Borowski and the seven members of the Decorah City Council have received a letter from six large Decorah businesses in opposition to a municipal electric utility.

The letter on Rockwell Collins stationery was sent February 19th and then again on March 1st with additional signatures, but has just come to light over the last few days.  The effort was spearheaded by Rockwell Collins (Note: Rockwell Collins Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Patrick E. Allen is a member of Alliant Energy's Board of Directors)

The six large businesses signing the letter are Rockwell Collins, Gemini Sign Products, Toppling Goliath, Iowa Rotocast Plastic, Stanley Engineered Fastening and Deco Products.

The letter tells of Alliant's response during the 2008 flooding, calling it "amazing action taken by the experienced local crews."  It adds, "No other utility in our region without Alliant Energy's resources could have restored power so quickly."

The letter also says the businesses are concerned that a shift to a municipal electric utility would eliminate their ability to present a case to the Iowa Utilities Board. 

Says the letter, "We prefer the (city) council redirects this effort into discussions with Alliant Energy on the ways that we can all work together, with less cost and lower risk of reliability issues and rate instability."

(For a complete text of the letter, click on the .pdf file link.)