House Republicans push back on Iowa Supreme Court ruling with new bill on power lines

Iowa Republican lawmakers are pushing back against an Iowa Supreme Court ruling halting legislation that determines which companies get preference to build new electric transmission lines by trying to pass the bill again.

The fight stems from a 2020 law that related to competitive bidding requirements for electric transmission lines, giving the "right of first refusal" for new projects to companies with existing infrastructure, like MidAmerican Energy and ITC Midwest.

The law passed after an overnight debate in the final hours of the 2020 legislative session and was later challenged in court by two companies, LS Power Midcontinent and Southwest Transmission, that said it unfairly prevented them from competing for future transmission projects.

More: Court strikes down Iowa utility law, pauses $2.6 billion in transmission line projects

Iowa Supreme Court Justice Thomas Waterman quoted extensively from the Iowa Senate's floor debate in his decision to temporarily block the law while a legal challenge played out.

Waterman said the bill's floor manager "falsely represented" the bill and made misrepresentations about its level of support. And he wrote "legislators were unsure of what they were voting on."

The ruling enraged Iowa Republicans, and Waterman's use of comments from floor debate in his decision caused Senate Republicans to temporarily refuse to answer questions during debate last year, before eventually relenting.

On Tuesday, a House subcommittee voted 2-1 to advance a new version of the bill, House Study Bill 698. The House Commerce Committee voted 17-5 Tuesday afternoon to send the bill to the full House for consideration.

Rep. Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, said the issue at stake for him is "the integrity of the separation of the three branches of government."

"We have a judicial branch, we have an executive branch and we have a legislative branch," he said. "And in this case I think the judicial branch was way out of line in their criticism of how the Legislature operates."

Rep. Charley Thomson, R-Charles City, said he agreed with Mohr's comments.

"I guess the best way to say it is it probably was not the Supreme Court of Iowa’s finest hour when they issued their ruling," he said.

Both Republicans voted to advance the bill, although they acknowledged it would likely undergo changes.

"If there are areas where competition would benefit the process I think most people would agree that competition should be allowed, but we also have to have a reliable system," Thomson said.

Rep. Sean Bagniewski, D-Des Moines, did not sign off on the bill, but said he would look at any potential amendments.

"To grant our existing monopolies essentially a monopoly over all additional transmission in the state of Iowa to me is a tough task," he said. "And I was hoping to hear justification why we would do that this morning and I didn’t really get there."

Dehn Stevens, vice president of transmission development and planning at MidAmerican Energy said local companies have an advantage over out of state competitors when it comes to mobilizing to rebuild infrastructure after disasters like snowstorms and the 2020 derecho. He said they also know how to build equipment that can withstand severe weather.

"That’s where the rubber hits the road. Are the facilities designed to withstand those kind of severe events? he said. "And I would just say that from MidAmerican and ITC’s perspective, we’ve lived here, we’ve operated here, we know what it takes to maintain that level of reliability that our customers need."

Mike St. Clair, a lobbyist for Americans for Fair Energy Prices, said his group opposes the bill.

"We do believe that in the absence of a fair market, competitive environment ultimately ratepayers, the consumers out there will pay higher rates for their electricity," he said.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: GOP bill pushes back on Iowa Supreme Court transmission line ruling