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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Lower Iowa Electricity Bills Predicted Under Clean Power Plan

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Monday, July 27, 2015   

DES MOINES, Iowa – Two new studies find the proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency to cut carbon pollution from the nation's existing power plants makes a lot of financial sense for Iowa consumers.

One report that looks at the economics of the Clean Power Plan is from Synapse Energy Economics.

Principal economist Elizabeth Stanton says that study found that with participation in energy efficiency programs, the average U.S. household could save $35 per month on electric bills by 2030. The savings locally would be even greater.

"Iowa households taking advantage of energy-efficiency programs under the proposed Clean Power Plan would save $83 a month on average and their bills would be $41 a month in 2030," Stanton states.

Stanton adds with investments in energy efficiency, the Clean Power Plan would not only achieve the goal of a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions, but exceed that.

The other report is from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Professor Marilyn Brown says Georgia Tech’s modeling also predicts electricity bills would be lower under the plan, not go higher as critics claim. And she says a clean power pathway could also be very good for the economy and job creation.

"You spend a lot more on labor when it comes to energy efficiency and renewable systems than you do in the generation of electricity from large power plants that are nuclear, coal of natural gas," Brown points out.

While the Clean Power Plan isn't expected to be finalized until later this summer, Iowa already is taking a lead on energy efficiency and renewable systems. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy ranks the state 14th best in the nation.





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