Consumer advocate wants MidAmerican to cut electricity prices

The State Consumer Advocate is asking the Iowa Utilities Board to cut the electric rates of Iowa’s largest utility company. Consumer Advocate Gary Stewart says MidAmerican should cut its electric rates by 70-million dollars. Stewart says his investigation finds MidAmerican’s rates allow them to reap “excessive profits.” Stewart says MidAmerican has benefited from sales of electricity to other utilities from their low-cost coal plants. If approved, the biggest rate reduction would go to residential customers. Stewart says his formal request to the Utilities Board is the start of a process in which both sides will argue for or against the rate reduction. The Utilities Board has ten months to make a final decision.MidAmerican has approximately 642-thousand electric customers in Iowa, Illinois and South Dakota.