Oct. 29--IOWA CITY -- "It won't be easy and it won't be cheap." That's how William Fehrman, president and chief executive of MidAmerican Energy Co., sums up America's challenge to meet goals in federal climate change legislation working its way through Congress. Fehrman, keynote speaker for the Iowa City Area Development Group annual meeting Wednesday, said Iowans will be forced to pay more for electricity if the proposal becomes law. "They are asking us to take our carbon emissions down to levels that have not been seen since the early 1900s," Fehrman said. "If you look at it on a per-capita basis, (carbon emissions) will be at levels that have not been seen since 1875." Fehrman said MidAmerican has invested in renewable energy sources, primarily wind generation, hydroelectric and geothermal facilities.

He said corporate parent MidAmerican Energy Holdings has invested in BYD Company Ltd. of China, which is developing batteries to store electricity generated by renewable energy sources.

Fehrman said consumer behavior will need to change to make the shift from primarily carbonbased energy generation.

He said utilities will need to educate customers how to use less energy even as electric rates rise to pay for the higher cost of renewable energy.

-- Contact the writer: (319) 3988366 or george.ford@gazcomm.com

-----

To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazetteonline.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

HongKong:1211,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.