ER27-25-000 · 2026-10-23 · Iowa OCA and 8 consumer advocates
Joint Protest of the Iowa Office of the Consumer Advocate, the Citizens Utility Boards of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, the Michigan and Illinois Attorneys General, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce
Back to sections and commentaryPDF page 1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE
FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
)
Midcontinent Independent System
)
Docket ER27-25-000
Operator, Inc.
)
)
JOINT PROTEST OF
THE IOWA OFFICE OF THE CONSUMER ADVOCATE,
THE CITIZENS UTILITY BOARD OF MICHIGAN,
THE CITIZENS UTILITY BOARD OF ILLINOIS,
THE CITIZENS UTILITY BOARD OF WISCONSIN,
THE CITIZENS UTILITY BOARD OF MINNESOTA
CITIZENS ACTION COALITION OF INDIANA,
MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL,
THE OFFICE OF THE ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL, AND
MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Pursuant to Rule 211 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“Commission”)
Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 C.F.R. section 385.211 and the August 31, 2026 Combined
Notice of Filings #1, the Iowa Office of Consumer Advocate, Citizens Utility Board of
Michigan, Citizens Utility Board of Illinois, Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin, Citizens Utility
Board of Minnesota, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, the Michigan Attorney General, the
Office of the Illinois Attorney General, and Minnesota Department of Commerce (collectively,
the “Joint Protestors”) respectfully submit this Joint Protest in the above-captioned proceeding.
JOINT PROTEST
The Joint Protestors submit this Joint Protest regarding the proposed tariff revisions filed
by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (“MISO”) regarding the Large LoadPDF page 2
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Additional Resource Study Process (“LARS Process”) with the Commission in the above-
captioned action.1
On October 2, 2026, MISO filed proposed revisions to its Open Access Transmission,
Energy, and Operating Reserve Markets Tariff (“Tariff”) to establish a LARS Process with
supporting direct testimony prepared by Christina Drake, MISO Director, Generation
Interconnection. In the Transmittal Letter, MISO asserts the filing is responsive to the
Commission’s concerns in its Show Cause Order in Docket No. EL26-70-000, including the
finding MISO’s existing Tariff may be unjust and unreasonable because it does not provide
generator interconnection study procedures and services that account for the operational
dynamics of serving electrically proximate large loads.2
In the Show Cause Order, the Commission found MISO’s Tariff “appears to be unjust and
unreasonable because it lacks adequate mechanisms to mitigate the risk of cost shifting among
transmission customers, which may result in unjust and unreasonable rates for transmission
service.”3 In the ruling, the Commission expressed concern about the lack of transparency
regarding the assignment of costs, including Network Upgrades, necessary to provide
transmission service to Eligible Customers or Large Load Customers on behalf of Large Loads.
The Commission sought to ensure Eligible Customers bear the risk and are ultimately
responsible for costs incurred to provide transmission service, including the cost of Network
Upgrades.4
1 In the Show Cause Order discussed below, the Commission expressly “encourage[d] . . . state consumer advocates
to submit comments explaining whether this information is sufficient and granular enough or to submit comments
explaining precisely which additional information on transmission cost allocation may be needed to inform proper
state-jurisdictional cost allocation.” Midcontinent Indep. Sys. Operator, Inc., 195 FERC ¶ 61,212 at P 70 (2026)
(“Show Cause Order”).
2 Transmittal Letter at 3. The definition of electrically proximate large loads is in the Show Cause Order and set
forth in this Protest, below. See footnote 23.
3 Show Cause Order at P 66.
4 Id. at PP 70-77.
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I.
The Commission Should Not Allow the Grandfathering of Approximately 30
Gigawatts of Load
MISO is proposing to fully exempt or “grandfather” any Large Load with a service
commencement date on or prior to December 4, 2026, from all requirements of proposed Section
37A, or more generally, the Large Load Interconnection Reliability Requirements.5 MISO is
also proposing to partially exempt a Large Load or a portion of a Large Load that does not have a
Service Commencement Date prior to December 4, 2026, but that meets the MTEP/EPR
Condition and the ramp and ride-through requirements set forth in Section 37A.6 through
37A.7.6 In total, MISO is proposing to fully or partially exempt approximately 30 gigawatts of
existing load from the Large Load Interconnection Reliability Requirements.7 The Joint
Protestors filed a Protest in Docket No. ER26-3650-000 on September 18, 2026, protesting
MISO’s proposed grandfathering exemptions.8 The Joint Protestors maintain the proposed
grandfathering exemptions under MISO’s Section 205 filings, including the LARS Process, are
not just and reasonable. If the grandfathering exemptions are carried forward in this filing and to
the series of future Federal Power Act Section 205 filings MISO intends to make in response to
the Show Cause Order, the exemptions could deprive electric consumers of the cost-shifting and
other consumer protections MISO has been directed to address in the Show Cause Order.
5 Midcontinent Indep. Sys. Operator, Inc., Interconnection of Reliability Requirements for Large Loads, Docket No.
ER26-3650 at 13- 14 (Aug. 28, 2026).
6 Id.
7 Midcontinent Indep. Sys. Operator, Large Load Working Group, Large Load Interconnection Reliability
Requirements (LLWG) at 8 (Aug. 12, 2026), https://www.misoenergy.org/events/2026/large-load-working-group-
llwg---august-12-2026/ (last visited on Sept. 16, 2026).
8 Joint Protest of the Iowa Office of Consumer Advocate et al., Midcontinent Indep. Sys. Operator, Inc., Docket No.
ER26-3650-000 at 3 (filed Sept. 18, 2026).
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II.
Cost-Shifting Should be Addressed Across MISO’s Section 205 Filings and in the
Section 206 Filing
MISO’s LARS Process does not address the Commission’s concerns regarding cost-
shifting expressed in the Show Cause Order. In her direct testimony, MISO Witness Drake notes
“[t]he cost shifting issues raised in the Commission’s Show Cause Order will be addressed in
future filings that MISO plans to submit by November 16.”9 The Commission’s concerns
regarding cost-shifting are an integral part of the Show-Cause Order. If the Commission
approves MISO’s proposed Tariff changes in MISO’s Section 205 filings without considering
cost-shifting and the collective impact of all of MISO’s Section 205 filings as a whole, electric
customers may be deprived of the cost-shifting and other consumer protections the Commission
directed MISO to address in the Show Cause Order. The Commission should require MISO to
address cost-shifting in all of its Section 205 filings and in all of its direct responses to the
Section 206 Show Cause Order. The Joint Protestors should be permitted to address the cost-
shifting impacts, transparency issues, and other consumer protection issues raised in MISO’s
Section 205 filings as a whole, collectively, in the Section 206 Show Cause Docket.10
9 Tab C. MISO Witness Drake Direct Testimony at 41:7-8.
10 Consumer advocates have demonstrated a need for their offices to have a more meaningful, active, and visible role
in MISO. See Docket No. AD25-7, Statement of Jennifer Easler on behalf of Iowa OCA at 7 (May 16, 2025); see
also id. at 7-8 (urging “the Commission to consider changes to give Consumer Advocates a stronger voice at MISO
and its planning process so the interests of those who pay the bills are heard.”). MISO’s failure to address the cost-
impact components of the Show Cause Order serves as an acute example that corroborates that need. In a future
submission, Joint Protestors may ask FERC to take action under Section 206 to address that need by (i) finding that
the lack of funding provisions for consumer advocate offices renders MISO’s Tariff unjust and unreasonable and
unduly discriminatory, and (ii) establishing a mechanism in MISO’s Tariff to fund a consumer advocate organization
(similar to the CAPS organization in PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.).
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III.
The LARS Process Lacks Transparency on Costs and Allows Cost-Shifting of
Network Upgrades
MISO proposes to add a new GIP Section 3.12.4 to describe the studies that will take
place for LARS generation projects.11 With respect to mitigations or network upgrades to
address violations observed during the studies, MISO proposes the following language:
Mitigations developed to address violations observed in only the transmission
studies shall be assigned Baseline Reliability Projects (BRP) or Other project
types. Mitigations developed to address common violations observed in both the
transmission study and the generation study shall be assigned Baseline Reliability
Projects (BRP) or Other project types. Mitigations developed to address
violations observed only in the generation study shall be assigned to the LARS
Interconnection Customer under the Generator Interconnection Project (GIP)
project type.12
In the Transmittal Letter, MISO explains the above language:
addresses how mitigations developed to address violations will be assigned
depending on where they were observed. If they were only observed in the load
side study of LARS, then they will be assigned BRPs and Other project types. If
mitigations were developed to address violations observed in both the generation
and load studies, then they will be assigned BRPs and Other project types. And
finally, any mitigations developed to address violations observed that were caused
only in the generation study will be assigned to the Interconnection Customer
under the Generator Interconnection Project (“GIP”) project type.13
In her direct testimony, MISO Witness Drake further explains the proposed Tariff change:
Q.
BECAUSE LARS INVOLVES GENERATION/LOAD PAIRS, HOW
ARE VIOLATIONS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED MITIGATION
COSTS ASSIGNED?
A.
The generator will be responsible for any constraints unique to the
generation study and the load will be responsible for any constraints
unique to the load study. In the event there is an overlap in violations,
then the costs will be assigned to the load. Thus, projects developed to
mitigate violations observed only in the LARS generator study will be
assigned to the LARS Interconnection Customer under the Generator
Interconnection Project (depicted as GIP below) project type. In the event
that any Planning Criteria violations, such as thermal or voltage overloads,
11 Transmittal Letter at 31-32; Tab A, ATTACHMENT X, Generator Interconnection Procedures (GIP) 193.0.0.
12 Transmittal Letter at 31-32; Tab A, ATTACHMENT X, Generator Interconnection Procedures (GIP) 193.0.0.
13 Transmittal Letter at 32.
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are observed during the load-side study process including any common
violations identified between the generation and load studies, mitigations
will be developed and assigned BRP or Other project types as defined in
Attachment FF.
As the diagram demonstrates above, in the event that there is a common
issue between the load and generation, then the cost will be allocated for
the BRP or Other project type. If a GIP defers or displaces a BRP, then the
costs of the GIP up to the costs of the deferred or displaced BRP shall be
allocated consistent with the cost allocation for the BRP.14
The LARS Process does not assign the cost of all network upgrades to the cost-causer.
The LARS Process assigns the Interconnection Customer, the cost-causer, the cost of network
upgrades to address violations observed in the generation study under the GIP project type.
Unlike the violations observed only in the generation study, the LARS Process assigns the cost of
network upgrades to address violations observed in the transmission studies and observed in both
the transmission study and the generation study to Baseline Reliability (“BRP”) or Other project
types, which are allocated zonally. The LARS proposal does not adequately assign costs to the
cost causers, and MISO has not yet fully developed a cost allocation proposal for LARS load and
14 Tab C, MISO Witness Drake Direct Testimony at 27:14-28:7.
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generation pairs. MISO indicates in its Transmittal Letter that any overallocation of upgrade
costs will be “formalized in a future MTEP project,” and will likely be allocated zonally across
MISO’s Transmission Pricing Zone.15 This does not address whether costs are properly allocated
to large loads. MISO’s Tariff does not contain a transparent, cost-causation tracking framework
to track the cost of the network upgrades, allowing the cost of the network upgrades to shift from
direct assignment to the cost-causer to other ratepayers under zonal rates. Consistent with the
Show Cause Order, the cost-causer, not other ratepayers, should be responsible for all network
upgrades resulting from the Large Load. Proposals that allocate Large Load network upgrade
costs to other customers zonally under the premise of the alleged benefits those customers
receive are therefore irrelevant.
IV.
The LARS Process Fails to Address the Commission’s Show Cause Order’s
Requirement to be “Electrically Proximate”
MISO proposes LARS as load and generation pairs, interconnecting within the same
Local Resource Zone (LRZ).16 MISO LRZ’s are physically large, with LRZ 1 spanning from
Montana to Illinois.17 In the Transmittal Letter, MISO explains that they chose the load and
generation interconnection pair threshold at the LRZ to align with MISO’s Resource Adequacy
construct.18 MISO Witness Christina Drake further details the choice around LRZ:
Q.
HOW DOES LARS ADDRESS THE ELECTRICALLY
PROXIMATE REQUIREMENT IN THE SHOW CAUSE ORDER?
A.
MISO’s LARS proposal provides the Tariff structure necessary to enable
an Interconnection Customer to serve an electrically proximate load as the
LARS Associated Load must be located within the same LRZ. MISO did
not want to limit the pairing of generation with associated load to a
15 Transmittal Letter at 13.
16 Transmittal Letter at 10.
17 Midcontinent Indep. Sys. Operator, FERC Electric Tariff, Attachment VV, Map of Local Resource Zone
Boundaries (40.0.0) at 1 (effective Oct. 26, 2025), https://www.misoenergy.org/legal/tariff/ (last visited on Oct. 18,
2026).
18 Tab C. MISO Witness Drake Direct Testimony at 40.
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specific number of substations because that would limit how MISO may
optimize common solutions.19
MISO discusses how it could have structured its LARS proposal, by either “requiring the
generation and LARS Associated Load to be located in the same Local Balancing Authority area
or through requiring that the location of the Generating Facilities be within a specific number of
substations of the LARS Associated Load.”20 MISO indicates that it chose neither of these
structures, favoring LRZ as a boundary, due to its existing relationship with the Resource
Adequacy metric, as well as “avoiding capacity import/capacity export limitations for the
individual LRZ,” and avoiding “price separation between the paired generation and LARS
Associated Load.”21
The Commission indicated preference for faster interconnection between large load and
associated generation facilities in the Large Load ANOPR, as well as in the Commission’s Show
Cause Order. The Commission’s Show Cause Order considers the benefits of studying new load
and new generation together. Physical proximity between new load and new generation “when
physically or electrically proximate, present system benefits and can help address the challenges
posed by large load."22 The Commission’s Show Cause Order defines “electrically proximate
large load” as “no more than two substations away from the generating facility” to govern the
electrical distance in between related generation interconnection and large load.23 The
19 Tab C MISO Witness Drake Direct Testimony at 10.
20 Transmittal Letter at 10.
21 Tab C MISO Witness Drake Direct Testimony at 40:15-16, Transmittal Letter at 22.
22 Show Cause Order at P 106.
23 “[T]he term “electrically proximate large load” to mean a large load, as defined in this order, that is sufficiently
electrically close to the interconnection customer’s requested point of interconnection, such that the impact on the
transmission system of the combination of the generating facility and the load, with the exception of the
transmission facilities between the two, will be effectively the same as if they were located at the same substation
(e.g., large load that is located no more than two substations away from the generating facility). We will consider
proposed revisions to this definition that ensure it is appropriately tailored to MISO’s transmission system.” Show
Cause Order at P 112.
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Commission established this definition because electrical efficiencies created by narrow co-
location of generation interconnection and new large load customers would harmonize siting of
load and generation and minimize the need for Network Upgrades. 24
MISO does not accomplish optimizing solutions between a LARS Associated Load and
an Interconnection Customer’s generation facility in accordance with the Commission’s guidance
in the Show Cause Order. Instead of proposing a compatible definition of “electrically
proximate,” MISO eschewed the lower network upgrade cost benefits of defining new large load
and generation facilities in a constrained area in favor of the LRZ boundary for the LARS
proposal.
Neither MISO Witness Drake nor the Transmittal Letter explain how the LARS proposal
mitigates the electrical impact of LARS Associated Load and generation facilities being spaced
potentially hundreds of miles apart, with load and generation being linked, despite being located
potentially many states away. Furthering the logical challenge presented by MISO’s use of LRZ
as a boundary, MISO has Zones that range in size from LRZ 1, which spans from eastern
Montana to northwest Illinois, to LRZ 5 which comprises less than half of the state of Missouri.
MISO’s LRZ proposal does not meaningfully engage with the Show Cause Order. MISO neither
evaluates whether its LRZ boundaries are appropriate under the Order’s terms nor supports its
conclusion that they are.
The Joint Protestors respectfully urge the Commission to require MISO to establish a
reasonable distance of “electrically proximate” that fully considers the factors laid out in the
Commission’s Show Cause Order. For example, MISO could allow for project-specific
substations to not count against the “no more than two substations” count, such that a step-up
24 Show Cause Order at P 113.
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substation to transmission voltage and a step-down to distribution voltage are not part of the
electrical distance or electrical impact.25 However, as the proposal stands, MISO’s LARS filing
appears to be a departure from the defined electrical distance contemplated in the Show Cause
Order.
V.
MISO Fails to Explain How LARS is Not a Queue-Jumping Proposal
The Joint Protestors also take issue with MISO’s classification of the LARS proposal and
its intent to build off the success of the Expedited Resource Addition Study (“ERAS”) and the
Zero-Injection Generator Interconnection Agreement (“ZGIA”) process, the latter of which is
still pending at the Commission. The ERAS pathway allowed Generator Interconnection
customers who have approval from their Retail Electric Rate Regulatory Authority (“RERRA”)
to seek an expedited pathway to a Generator Interconnection Agreement (“GIA”), circumventing
the traditional DPP queue. The Joint Protestors are concerned that LARS, similar to ERAS, will
enable queue jumping. MISO Witness Drake indicates that “MISO understands the concerns that
LARS is enabling queue jumping,” but does not believe that the LARS proposal contemplates
queue jumping and maintains a size cap that prevents misuse of the process.26
MISO Witness Drake discusses the likely success of the LARS process from a planning
standpoint, and how there could be strategic efficiencies between generator interconnection and
load interconnection processes, “If MISO can identify a common solution that
helps integrate both the load and generation into the system, then MISO can maximize the
benefits of both processes and reduce integration costs.”27 The LARS study process only
evaluates generator projects with executed GIAs. Any projects currently moving through the
25 Show Cause Order at 67.
26 Tab C, MISO Witness Drake Direct Testimony at 10.
27 Tab C, MISO Witness Drake Direct Testimony at 6.
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DPP Cycle will not be modeled into the LARS study models.28 In effect, any LARS project will
be studied before the DPP projects that have waited through multiple phases of study. The
omission of DPP projects combined with an electrically proximate definition that can be up to
nearly a thousand miles creates a process that enables queue jumping for LARS Associated
Generators.
MISO’s testimony supposes that queue jumping only becomes a problem when the
jumping is unrestricted and constant. Under FPA Section 205, MISO bears the burden of proof
that LARS is just and reasonable, and not unduly preferential. MISO has not adequately
explained how LARS generation projects are not receiving undue preference over other
generation projects in the DPP cycles ahead of them. The Show Cause Order explicitly asks
MISO to show, in their FPA Section 205 filing, how they will “avoid disrupting existing
commercial arrangements.”29 MISO has not shown how the LARS filing will avoid such
disruptions to the existing DPP queue, and will avoid being unjust and unreasonable, or unduly
discriminatory to Generator Interconnection Customers currently in the queue.
CONCLUSION
WHEREFORE, the Joint Protestors pray the Commission reject MISO’s proposed Tariff
grandfathering exemptions to ensure Large Load customers bear the cost and risk of all costs
caused by the Large Load customer, direct MISO to address cost-shifting in its Section 205
filings and in its direct response to the Section 206 filing, allow the Joint Protestors to address
the cost-shifting impacts, transparency issues, and other consumer protection issues raised in
MISO’s Section 205 filings as a whole, collectively, in the Section 206 Show Cause Docket,
reject MISO’s proposed Tariff provisions under GIP Section 3.12.4 that shift the cost of network
28 Tab C, MISO Witness Drake Direct Testimony at 28.
29 Show Cause Order at P 36.
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upgrades to address violations observed in the transmission studies and observed in both the
transmission study and the generation study to Baseline Reliability or Other project types, reject
MISO’s LARS definition for “electrically proximate” to mean across an LRZ, reject MISO’s
provisions that allow queue jumping around the standard DPP process, and require MISO to
ensure Large Load customers bear the cost and risk of all costs caused by the Large Load
customer, and for any additional relief Commission deems appropriate under the circumstances.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Anthony A. Alvarez
Anthony A. Alvarez
Utilities Regulation Engineer 2
Iowa Attorney General
Office of the Consumer Advocate
1375 East Court Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50319
Anthony.Alvarez@oca.iowa.gov
/s/ Jennifer C. Easler
Jennifer C. Easler
Attorney
Iowa Attorney General
Office of the Consumer Advocate
1375 East Court Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50319
jennifer.easler@oca.iowa.gov
For the Iowa Office of the Consumer Advocate
/s/ Sydnie Lieb
Sydnie Lieb
Assistant Commissioner of Regulatory
Affairs, Energy Resources Division
Minnesota Department of Commerce
85 7th Place East, Suite 280
Saint Paul, MN 55101
Sydnie.Lieb@state.mn.us
For the Minnesota Department of Commerce
/s/ Sarah Moskowitz
Sarah Moskowitz
Executive Director
Citizens Utility Board of Illinois
309 W. Washington Street
Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60606
smoskowitz@citizensutilityboard.org
For the Citizens Utility Board of Illinois
/s/ John Liskey
John Liskey
General Counsel
Citizens Utility Board of Michigan
921 N. Washington Ave
Lansing, MI 48906
(517) 913-5105
John.liskey@cubofmichigan.org
For Citizens Utility Board of Michigan
/s/ Jennifer A. Washburn
Jennifer A. Washburn
Regulatory Director
Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Inc.
1915 W. 18th Street, Suite C
Indianapolis, IN 46202
(317) 735-7764
jwashburn@citact.org
For Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Inc.
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/s/ Daniel Narvey
Daniel Narvey
General Counsel
625 North Segoe Rd. Suite 101
Madison, WI 53705
(608) 251-3322
narvey@cubwi.org
For the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin
/s/ Michael E. Moody
Michael E. Moody
Special Litigation Division Chief
Assistant Attorney General
Michigan Department of Attorney General
P.O. Box 30212
Lansing, MI 48909
Moodym2@michigan.gov
For the Michigan Attorney General
/s/ Brandon Crawford
Brandon Crawford
Regulatory Advocate
Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota
332 Minnesota St., Suite W1360
Saint Paul, MN 55101
brandonc@cubminnesota.org
For the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota
/s/ Corey Singletary
Corey Singletary
Director of Regulatory Affairs
625 North Segoe Rd. Suite 101
Madison, WI 53705
(608) 251-3322
singletary@cubwi.org
For the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin
/s/ Samuel C. Lukens
Samuel C. Lukens
Assistant Attorney General
Public Utilities Bureau
Office of the Illinois Attorney General
115 South LaSalle Street, 25th Floor
Chicago, IL 60603
samuel.lukens@ilag.gov
For the Office of the Illinois Attorney General
Dated: October 23, 2026
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that I have this day served the foregoing document upon each person
designated on the official service list compiled by the Secretary in this proceeding.
Dated at this 23rd day of October, 2026.
/s/ Jennifer C. Easler
Jennifer C. Easler
Attorney
Office of Consumer Advocate of Iowa
1375 East Court Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50319-0063
(515) 725-7224
jennifer.easler@oca.iowa.gov