Saddled with a bill we had nothing to do with

The lead editorial in the Feb. 11 Wall Street Journal disclosed that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has told Interstate Power Co. (subsidiary of Alliant Energy that supplies electricity to us in Waukon) will have to pay $170.5 million to help underwrite the national cost of connecting wind power to the electric grid. Wind power is less than 5 percent of Interstate's source of energy. The company doesn't participate in the connections it is being charged for.

It is likely that the green energy lobby will prevail and the commission will rule against Interstate, and we will be saddled with a bill we had nothing to do with. This amounts to about $340 for every person served by Interstate which, of course, will be passed on to us, its customers. This is also in addition to the $12 billion of annual federal subsidy enacted by Congress in January.

Dick Roggensack

Waukon