Des Moines Activists Occupy MidAmerican Headquarters, Demand Climate Action

DES MOINES, IA -- Today, activists from Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) rallied in Cowles Commons Park before marching to occupy the lobby at MidAmerican Energy Headquarters in Downtown Des Moines. MidAmerican is the number one carbon polluter in Iowa. It owns and operates 5 coal plants across the state that have no public plans for retirement.

“A decade ago, MidAm was a national model for ambitious clean energy plans, now it's at the back of the pack for cutting emissions. The climate crisis demands immediate action as extreme weather events and environmental injustices continue to worsen.” said Katie Rock, Campaign Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.

Activists urged MidAmerican CEO, Kelcey Brown to commit the company to retire coal by 2030, prioritize a 24/7, 100 percent clean energy goal, invest in programs that would lower the burden of household energy bills and increase energy efficiency, particularly in BIPOC and low-income communities.

“With nearly $1Billion in annual profits just last year, it is clear that MidAmerican has been focused on business as usual throughout the pandemic, and even as the climate crisis worsens. It is shameful that they continue to extract more wealth from working class communities like mine while operating as a monopoly utility, burning coal we don’t need, and shutting power off for struggling Iowans. It’s time for MidAmerican to put people and the planet first!” said Cherie Mortice, an Iowa CCI member from the east side of Des Moines.

Just last week, MidAmerican filed plans at the Iowa Utilities Board that failed to make any meaningful commitments to retiring coal or moving away from fossil fuels. Testimony filed by environmental groups last year showed that by retiring coal, MidAmerican could have not only taken meaningful steps to reduce climate disrupting emissions, but would have also saved customers millions of dollars.

“Kelcey Brown is passing on the opportunity to cut through the greenwashing and deliver on the promises MidAm’s marketing so proudly touts. Iowa needs climate action, not talking points. That means getting off coal by 2030 and putting people and planet first,” said Jake Grobe with Iowa CCI.

Iowa’s continued reliance on coal-fired power plants remains the state’s largest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions. The size of MidAmerican’s coal fleet makes it the single largest carbon polluter in the state and the utility remains one of the 20 largest utility companies in the nation with no climate commitment or emissions reductions target.