Overview
Energy – that's what MidAmerican is all about. MidAmerican Energy Company is the largest utility in Iowa and is strategically located in the middle of several major markets in the Midwest. We provide service to more than 723,000 electric customers and more than 702,000 natural gas customers in a 10,600 square-mile area from Sioux Falls, S.D., to the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois. The largest communities served by MidAmerican are Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Waterloo, Iowa City and Council Bluffs, Iowa; the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois; and Sioux Falls, S.D.
At MidAmerican, our commitment to you, the customer, is to deliver the exceptional personal service you deserve. If you aren't satisfied, neither are we. That's a promise. If you have ideas about how we can better serve you or have a problem that has not been resolved to your satisfaction, call us at 888-427-5632 or
e-mail us.
Our Generation Mix. By the end of 2009, MidAmerican will have available nearly 7,200 megawatts of generating capability: approximately 50 percent fueled by coal; 21 percent natural gas and oil; 10 percent nuclear; 19 percent wind, hydroelectric and biomass; and less than 1 percent by other nonrenewable sources. Production costs at our coal-fueled generation stations are lower than regional and national averages. The company has majority ownership in five of the six jointly owned coal-fueled generating stations in Iowa.
Rate Stability. The last electric rate increase MidAmerican Energy customers experienced was in 1995, and the company has committed to keeping base electric rates – the cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity – stable in Iowa. The company does not have any plans to seek an electric rate increase for customers in Illinois and South Dakota.
MidAmerican Energy purchases and supplies natural gas to customers at cost. The base rate the company charges for the delivery of natural gas, which is set by state utility regulators, has been the same in Iowa and Illinois since 2002 and since 2004 in South Dakota.
The South Sioux City and Dakota City Councils recently approved an increase of approximately $276,000 for Nebraska natural gas delivery service rates. The increase for small use customers will be about 4.4 percent effective January 2010.
MidAmerican is proposing an increase in Illinois natural gas distribution rates of approximately $3.387 million, or 3.6 percent, over 2008 revenues (Illinois Commerce Commission Docket number 09-0312), effective May 2010.
MidAmerican has experienced increased operating costs including the cost of materials and supplies, labor and employee benefits. The rate relief is being requested in order to continue to provide safe and reliable natural gas service.