Mr. (Electric) Answer Person: Still more electric utility questions

(The questions keep coming in to Mr. Answer Person about the May 1st referendum):

--Cynthia asks: "What will the cost of preparing the application for a local utility be to the City of Decorah?  Where will those funds come from?"

Mr. Answer Person says: "Decorah Power has estimated the costs of preparing an application to be $500,000, while Alliant Energy places that figure at $2 million.  The City of Decorah has been using a figure of $1 million.

The city has also been talking about how the price can vary, of course, depending upon how much time lawyers and consultants spend on the issue.  It's also a process that can be shortened or lengthened at several steps along the way.  That's a quick way of saying, "Nobody knows exactly."

As for where the money comes from, that again depends upon how much money is being discussed.  The city is forced to hold a referendum if it wants to raise more than $700,000 in any way to pay for legal and engineering costs, which are not a part of the current city budget.  There's also a process where voters can force a referendum even when less that $700,000 has been spent.

Once again, this is potentially a long process with many steps along the way, so "one size does not fit all" when it comes to answers.

Steven says: "From what I understand, when the franchise agreement between the City of Decorah and Alliant Energy ends in May, the City will be billed by Alliant for all work done--the moving of poles, burying of electric lines, etc.  All Alliant will agree to do will be to supply power."

Mr. Answer Person says: "Again, there's not a clear-cut answer to this question.  The current franchise agreement spells out the relationship between the City of Decorah and Alliant Energy.  If the franchise agreement expires in late May, the City of Decorah and Alliant Energy have to negotiate each and every agreement regarding work in the right-of-way.  The two sides could keep the current agreement in place until a new agreement is signed--or the city might face higher costs if work that used to be performed for free now gets charged.  But there's no way to predict the future, so there's no way to answer your questions.

Jeff says, "How much money will it cost to hold the May 1st referendum?"

Mr. Answer Person says: "Finally a question with a straightforward answer!  The City of Decorah will be billed between $3,000 to $5,000 for the special elections, depending upon how much work is done.

In addition, the City of Decorah itself spent $15,000 in legal fees before the May 1st referendum.  Not all of this money was because of the MEU vote--some was for other reasons, but the grand total of the cost of the election to the city is probably around $15,000.