Gimme money: Iowa county hits POET, Koch Resources with water rate increase

In Iowa, three ethanol plants owned by POET and Koch Resources have been asked to pay more for their water by the local utility but POET won’t unless Koch does too. If they don’t agree to up their water rates, then the consumers in the Xenia Rural Water District—which announced it was going broke in 2009, partially due to pipe extensions to the ethanol plants— could see their own domestic water rates go up by 17%. Almost 50% of the water supplied by the district, which supplies water to 12 counties, goes to the three ethanol plants.

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