By Denise Lana,
Don Kom, director of electric with Ames Municipal Utilities answered questions about the organization during a presentation Monday on the campus of Luther College. Decorah residents asked Kom a number of questions, as they prepare for next month’s referendum to potentially establish an local municipal electric utility. (Photo by Denise Lana.)
Don Kom, director of electric with Ames Municipal Utilities, spoke Monday night at Luther College at the behest of nonprofit group Decorah Power – a group which is currently advocating in favor of passing a March 4 referendum which would allow the city of Decorah to establish its own municipal electric utility.
Kom, who has overseen the electric department of the Ames utility for the past 19 years, said Ames Municipal Utilities supplies energy for approximately 65,000 people – Decorah, by comparison had an estimated population of 7,578 in 2023, according to the U.S Census Bureau. Recent estimates released by Alliant Energy, which currently supplies electricity to most of Decorah, said the company expects Decorah would serve approximately 3,900 customers if it were to establish its own municipal electric utility.
Kom said the Ames utility is comprised of 138 employees who work together to keep their power plant running around the clock, with a 99.2 percent reliability rating.
“It’s a completely paid-for plant,” Kom said. “And our rates are lower than Alliant.”
The Ames utility also employes nine linemen dedicated to providing local service and maintenance.
“Electricians can call us and we can be there within the hour, it’s very localized,” said Dillon Christopher, a lineman with Ames Municipal Utilities. “We work for that town only. We know the businesses.”
Christopher told Monday’s audience he has been employed with Ames Municipal Utilities for nine years, and his base salary is nearly six figures – but he said, with overtime, can well exceed his baseline salary.
Kom explained that an MEU does not have shareholders like investor-owned utilities, which he indicated to be a benefit for residents of Ames.
“The people benefit by being part of the city and using some of the city resources,” Kom said. “The city doesn’t use one single tax dollar — the revenue from running the utility offsets the city attorney’s pay, the city manager’s pay, human resources, purchasing, etc. There are some benefits in doing that.”
Kom also said, in Ames, 5 percent of gross assets are paid to the city from the electric department — Kom said the utility pays an average of $2.4 million back to the city each year, based on a $77 million budget. He said, 15 percent of the city manager’s salary was paid as well. Kom advised Monday’s audience to take a chance on establishing an MEU in Decorah.
“I know you’ve got a vote coming up, but the beauty of it, in a nutshell, there is nothing about municipalization that should scare you,” Kom said. “If you get to a point where the numbers don’t work, the numbers don’t work. You can’t argue with that, but at least you can look at it with good information. And you can either say ‘yep, it works,’ or ‘no, it doesn’t.’”
Johanna Bergen, a representative of Decorah Power, echoed Kom, encouraging those in attendance to support the referendum at the polls next month.
“A yes vote gives us the opportunity to get data and facts from the Iowa Utility Commission that will allow us to figure out if this is a good idea,” Bergen said. “In the state of Iowa, we don’t get to vote ever for who our utility provider is. That is a state-made decision for us, and we pay the electric provider who runs electrons to our house. But on March 4, we have the opportunity to ask our city council to ask the state if there might be a better option for rate payers in our community.”
Early voting for next month’s referendum began Feb. 12 at the Winneshiek County Auditor’s Office.
Read more in the February 13 Decorah Leader newspaper.
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