CEO’s Report: Know the issues, know what you can do

Public Power’s 2017 legislative priorities

Heartland serves as an advocate for our customers, promoting policies that put our customers first while ensuring a stable supply of electricity and protecting the environment.

Our ability to supply affordable and reliable power is shaped heavily by regulation.

Pending regulation such as the Clean Power Plan includes mandates that could negatively impact both of Heartland’s coal-fired generating resources, Laramie River Station and Whelan Energy Center Unit 2.

LRS has seen many upgrades over the years to keep it operating efficiently and investments were made at WEC2 at the start. We are concerned about the environment and have been taking necessary steps to ensure we’re doing our part to protect it. Regulations can often force expensive and unnecessary improvements beyond that, which comes at a greater cost to ratepayers.

The future of the Clean Power Plan and other regulations remains uncertain with a new administration in place. We are hopeful President Trump and the team he has assembled will be friendly to the industry, but we will continue to watch closely and advocate on behalf of our customers.

The upcoming American Public Power Association Legislative Rally is one place we will be making our voice heard.

During this year’s rally, held February 27 through March 1, Heartland will be meeting with senators and representatives from each of the states we have customers and resources in. Below is an infographic outlining the issues we will be discussing during those meetings.