MidAmerican will ask regulators for permission to raise electricity prices

Iowa’s largest energy company is asking state regulators for permission to increase its electricity prices. MidAmerican Energy spokesman Kevin Waetke says the company will file a request Monday for a five-point-four percent increase.The increase would help pay for the rising cost of energy and the upkeep of electric plants and the transmission system. Waetke says the increase would be the first in seven years for the company.Waetke says MidAmerican realizes the request comes at a time when customers aren’t enamored with utility companies. But, compared to natural gas prices which doubled, he says the electric increase is “much easier to take.”He says the increase, if approved, wouldn’t go into effect until next year.Waetke says the increase will also make the cost of electricity uniform for all customers of the company in Iowa. MidAmerican has 669-thousand electric customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota.