Gas Utilities

MidAmerican customers may help finance nuclear study (03/16/10)
The 7,184 MidAmerican Electric Company customers in Plymouth County may see a monthly increase in their payment due to a proposed law. The increase would come if Iowa Gov. Chet Culver signs a bill to allow MidAmerican to boost electric consumer payments throughout the state by $15 million to study the possibility of bringing a second nuclear plant to Iowa...

Merrill industry is model for Iowa's future, Judge says (03/09/10)
If Iowa is going to recover from the recession that has plagued the nation, recovery is going to come from the ground up. That's what Lt. Gov. Patty Judge said Monday during a visit to the Plymouth Oil, a food-grade corn oil plant just north of Merrill...

City squeezing its way to a balanced budget (01/27/10)
"Bare bones" and "lean" were the words used to describe the 2011 city budget during a Le Mars City Council workshop Tuesday. "We asked all the departments to make a 10 percent cut after we've had cuts the last two years," Assistant City Administrator Bill Cole said. "There is not a lot of cushion."...

MidAmerican Energy calls for safety, continues storm restoration (01/26/10)
MidAmerican Energy reminds customers to take additional safety precautions as work continues to restore service to thousands of customers impacted by this week's ice storm. Today (Tuesday) MidAmerican Energy reported only one outage in Plymouth County...

City budget meetings set (01/07/10)
Le Mars City Council members are gearing up for the start of meetings to discuss the the 2010-2011 budget next week. Members of the finance committee, Councilmen Rex Knapp and John Rexwinkel, will be the first to meet with Assistant City Administrator Bill Cole at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Rexwinkel and Councilman Ken Nelson will meet at 2: 30 p.m. Wednesday to look at the budgeting picture for the public works, water and wastewater departments...

Local electric providers: We're for cap, but not trade (10/23/09)
Under proposed energy legislation often called "cap and trade," the Midwest would get burned, according to representatives from local electricity providers. MidAmerican Energy representative Mark Reinders explained his company's take on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a comprehensive energy bill proposed by U.S. Representatives...

Wind turbine company eyes Plymouth County (09/22/09)
A wind farm company may be considering Plymouth County for a new location to build wind turbines. Zoning Administrator Alan Lucken told the Plymouth County Board of Adjustment Monday that he'd recently received a call from an individual from a company that uses massive wind turbines to generate electricity...

New DNR water requirement may raise water bills (04/20/09)
A new requirement on treated wastewater pumped into the Floyd River may have a multi-million dollar impact on the City of Le Mars. And that cost may trickle down to residents. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulates allowable chloride levels flowing into rivers. Currently, the amount of chlorides coming from Le Mars wastewater is high, due to the number of home water softeners used by residents...

Power to the people: NIPCO turns 60 (04/07/09)

City plans hydrant flushing (03/23/09)
The City of LeMars Water Department will be flushing hydrants on Tuesday. They will start at 8 a.m. and end at 3:15 p.m. if applicable. The flushing will begin in the southwest part of town starting Tuesday. The city will also be flushing on Wednesday and Thursday in that southwest region...

City plans hydrant flushing (03/16/09)
The City of LeMars Water Department will be flushing hydrants on Tuesday. They will start at 8 a.m. and end at 3:15 p.m. if applicable. The first section will be the Northeast part of town and should finish mid-day on Wednesday. Mid-day on Wednesday they will start flushing the Northwest part of town and finish the Northwest on Thursday...

Developers look at piping methane from wastewater plant (03/11/09)
Waste not. That could be the motto of Le Mars' wastewater plant. The plant already makes 100 percent of what comes in into usable products. Now officials are talking with a local renewable energy developer about using the wastewater plant's methane to help fuel the Plymouth Energy ethanol and corn oil plants north of Merrill...

Wells' Dairy builds new station to monitor pH (02/16/09)
A $550,000 pH monitoring station is going up at 910 Prospect Street south of Wells' Dairy's south ice cream plant. The station will help prevent highly acidic or highly alkaline water from flowing into the City of Le Mars' wastewater plant. "If the pH swings too far, it could wreak havoc on the plant," said Le Mars Wastewater Superintendent Ron Kayser. "It could eat pipes, eat away cement and actually be a safety concern"...

First city budget proposal aims to hold steady on tax levy (01/21/09)
The first rough draft of the $15.9 city budget makes no increase in the city tax levy. Le Mars City Council members have begun study of the preliminary balanced budget for the coming fiscal year. A series of budget workshops start next Tuesday, Jan. 27...

City makes big cuts, makes department reorganization (01/06/09)
The City of Le Mars is eliminating its engineering department and cutting one person's job to help trim expenses. This decision, plus other cuts like not filling three other positions, will slash between $200,000 and $250,000 from the city budget. Mayor Dick Kirchoff announced the changes Monday afternoon in a press conference...

Economic development group on the prowl (12/24/08)
The Northwest Iowa Developers Coalition is putting both feet forward in its efforts to bring economic development to the area. Gary Tucker, Plymouth County's economic development director, shared with the Plymouth County Supervisors Tuesday some of the group's plans for 2009...

Operation costs behind proposed sewer rate increase (12/05/08)
After 12 years, Le Mars could see an increase in wastewater rates across the board. Le Mars City Council members presented information Tuesday from a rate study recently completed by Bolton & Menk, Inc., of Ames. The study found that city residents and business owners' rates would need to increase for the wastewater department to continue operations...

Hike in city sewage rates forthcoming (11/20/08)
Le Mars city sewer rates are expected to increase for residential and industrial users. The Le Mars City Council will hold a first reading of a new ordinance initiating the rate changes Dec. 2. The rate hike, effective Feb. 1, 2009, is projected at 20 percent for residential users and a corresponding 5 percent increase for industrial users...

Homeowner gets approval for wind turbine (09/09/08)
A man in southern Plymouth County received approval Monday to install a 30-foot wind turbine on his property to help power his house. Craig Carrell, of Sioux City, sought a conditional use permit from the Plymouth County Board of Adjustment to build the wind generator on his property just north of Sioux City in Perry Township near county road C-80...

Wind blows Texas oilman in to Le Mars to talk energy (08/15/08)
He may be 80 but an audience member still called T. Boone Pickens a "rockstar." The Texas oilman and billionaire landed his jet at the Le Mars airport Thursday afternoon to spin to Iowans his plan for reducing U.S. dependency on foreign oil. His idea: shift to using more wind energy and natural gas -- two things in which the nation is rich...

Local National Guard unit helps fend off floodwater (06/16/08)
Fifty-five members of the local National Guard unit were working through the night this weekend to help hold back flood water in downtown Des Moines and Burlington. The group from Le Mars' C-Troop 113th Cavalry left Thursday to help sandbag near the rising Des Moines River. This weekend they were called to Burlington to help with sandbagging efforts along the swelling Mississippi River, and they are continuing with that effort this week...

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