Coal plant canceled in Marshalltown

MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA - There will be no new coal plant in Marshalltown.

Alliant Energy Corp. subsidiary Interstate Power and Light Co. said it — along with partners Central Iowa Power Cooperative, Corn Belt Power Cooperative and North Iowa Municipal Electric Cooperative Association — had canceled plans to build its proposed $1.8 billion coal-fired Sutherland Generating Station in this town of 26,000, about 60 miles southwest of Waterloo.

The decision to cancel the project is based on a "combination of factors including the current economic and financial climate," increasing environmental, legislative and regulatory uncertainty regarding regulation of future greenhouse gas emissions, and the terms placed on the proposed power plant by regulators," Alliant said in a news release.

Alliant won't necessarily abandon its plant site, as did LS Power Associates Inc., which in January pulled out of a proposed $1.3 billion coal-fired plant in Waterloo, said Ryan Stensland, a spokesman for Alliant.

"We're going to put together a Plan B," he said, adding that the company had not worked out the details of any fallback plan. "We've got a strong foundation in that we're building wind energy."

He said the company has ruled out a nuclear plant.

"Unfortunately, we think this is a missed opportunity for Iowa's economy, its working families and its environment," Stensland said. "This next option we're going to put forward is not going to be the most cost-effective option."

Stensland said Alliant already had spent about $50 million on the proposed plant, which had received approval from the Iowa Utilities Board.

The company has other projects going in Iowa, including the 92,000-acre Whispering Willow wind farm near Hampton, which is expected to be online next year. The company also is investing in its existing power plants "to enhance their production while reducing their impact on the environment," IPL President Tom Aller said in a news release.

Related News

solar power

Illinois electric utility publishes online map of potential solar capacity

WASHINGTON - As the Illinois solar market grows from the Future Energy Jobs Act, the largest utility in the state has posted a planning tool to identify potential PV capacity in their service territory. ComEd, a Northern Illinois subsidiary of Exelon, has a hosting capacity website for its communities indicating how much photovoltaic capacity can be sited in given areas, based on the existing electrical infrastructure.

According to ComEd’s description, “Hosting Capacity is an estimate of the amount of DER [distributed energy resources] that may be accommodated under current configurations at the overall circuit level without significant system upgrades to address…

READ MORE

Gravity power holds major promise for the decarbonization of electricity grids

READ MORE

solar panels

Solar power growth, jobs decline during pandemic

READ MORE

Symantec Proves Russian

READ MORE

Renewables Surpass Coal in India's Energy Capacity Shift

Renewables Surpass Coal in India's Energy Capacity Shift

READ MORE