By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
Knoxville, Iowa, has been working on developing a solar plan for the city that would save it nearly $400,000 over the lifespan of a 30-year power-purchase agreement (PPA). But when it came to the final vote, MidAmerican Energy – the city’s utility – came in and tried to lobby against it.
The last-ditch attempt to keep solar from the citizens of Knoxville failed on a 3-1 vote, according to reports in the Knoxville Journal-Express.
Megan Suhr, a Knoxville council member, told the paper:
Renewable energy is something I care deeply about, so I know how some of these things work. [The utility] didn’t present us with any data that said this wasn’t a good choice for the city. This shows people in our community that we are progressive. We’re excited about renewable energy. We’re taking a leadership role in providing some solar capacity for our city facilities.
Even with Knoxville council’s blessing, the deal with Red Lion Renewables isn’t a 100% done deal. As the newspaper reports, the developer:
…needs to raise $150,000 for the most visible array, to be built as a parking shelter on a city lot just north of the firehouse at 308 S. 3rd St. It would power City Hall, Knoxville Fire & Rescue and the Knoxville Public Library, but nothing will happen if the money doesn’t emerge soon….
If MidAmerican read SolarWakeup, they would know they’re going to struggle to convince Iowans that renewable energy is not the way to go (although part of their argument was that they weren’t against renewables; they were just against non-MidAmerican owned renewables). As we’ve been reporting recently, one of MidAmerican’s competitors, Alliant Energy, has already agreed to pay to shut down a nuclear plant and eliminate coal from its portfolio by 2050.
Plus, the last-minute nature of their appeal is suspicious. Council meetings are public record, and you can be sure this issue didn’t just crop up on the most recent council agenda. So why were they rushing in at the last minute to attempt to scuttle the deal? Only MidAmerican can answer that question – but Knoxville’s city council didn’t bite at their argument – and if the money comes through, it looks like Knoxville, Iowa, will become the next city to add solar to its electricity-generation portfolio outside of the utility’s grasp.
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