Proposed MidAmerican rate hike for nuclear power plant a 'bad idea,' energy expert says

A proposed rate increase for MidAmerican Energy to fund a possible nuclear power power plant is ill-advised, an energy expert said Sunday during a visit to Iowa City.

Dr. Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Takoma Park, Maryland, spoke Sunday to a group of about 30 people at the Iowa City Public Library, and expressed his concerns over small nuclear reactor proliferation in the Midwest.

“Nuclear reactors are risky and expensive,” Makhijani said. “I do not believe the small reactors that are produced are going to alleviate this problem. I think there's more hype than substance to that.”

Makhijani discussed the dangers of nuclear energy on the one-year anniversary of Japan's Fukushima disaster.  He said the United States is not putting enough emphasis on testing our own reactors against similar situations, and said people living in the Midwest, particularly Iowans, can explore safer alternative energy methods.

“There's more wind energy in the Midwestern belt of the country than all the oil production of all the oil exporting countries put together," he said.

Makhijani has conducted studies in Utah, Nebraska and Minnesota looking at how wind energy can be grown as a major energy source while maintaining cost efficiency.  Based on his findings, it's possible, he said.

He also addressed the issue of a bill currently in the Iowa Senate, proposing a rate increase for MidAmerican Energy users. The energy company says the additional money generated by the increase would go toward building another nuclear plant. Makhijani calls this plan a “particularly bad idea."

“The way it is financed, basically, is pay in advance without even a guarantee that it will be delivered," he said.

Iowa lawmakers could take action this week on the bill, but some are still questioning, like Makhijani, if the measure would hurt customers and distract from the growth of alternative energy possibilities in Iowa.