Articles Tagged: Alliant Energy

Fairfax residents will vote Nov. 4 in a mayoral election and a five-way race for three City Council seats.

Despite Alliant Energy’s announcement that it is “deprioritizing” a site in Fairfax that had been proposed for construction of a new gas-fired power plant, city officials and residents in the small Linn County town haven’t stopped debating the issue.

Alliant Energy will start construction on a new power plant in Cedar Rapids — called the Cedar River Generating Station and sited within the boundary of Alliant’s Prairie Creek Generating Station — next year, aiming to have the plant fully operational by mid-2027.

Alliant Energy, which has been exploring building a new power plant in Fairfax — a proposal that was met with resistance from some residents and officials at The Eastern Iowa Airport — said in a statement to the city that it is “deprioritizing” the Fairfax location.

Also in this week’s Government Notes, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors will continue evaluating its need for juvenile detention beds

Alliant Energy’s plans for a natural gas fired power plant northwest of The Eastern Iowa Airport raise “concerns for airport safety and regulatory compliance,” according to a study commissioned by the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission.

The Fairfax City Council, in a heated meeting Tuesday, approved the first reading of a proposed exception to the city’s industrial zoning code which could provide a path for Alliant Energy to build a new power plant within city limits.

The City of Fairfax will consider a change to its zoning code that would provide a path for Alliant Energy to site a gas-fired power plant within city limits, near The Eastern Iowa Airport.

In collaboration with Alliant Energy, the smart streetlight project aims to enhance energy efficiency and offer additional amenities in Mount Vernon’s uptown area.

Alliant Energy has said there are other potential locations being considered for a new power plant, but the company’s representatives declined to share those locations with the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission because disclosing the other sites could put the company in a “negative position from a cost perspective.”

The Eastern Iowa Airport Commission says proposed site could jeopardize future runway, seeks alternative location and public meeting.

Alliant Energy is planning to add roughly 1,000 megawatts of wind energy to help boost Iowa’s electric grid and further diversify its energy portfolio. The project — estimated to cost more than $3 billion — would increase the company’s wind energy production by more than 50 percent.

Clean energy advocates say Iowa stands to lose jobs and renewable energy project expansions, and that utility bills would increase

Clean energy advocates say Iowa stands to lose jobs, manufacturing facilities, renewable energy project expansions and face more expensive utility bills if Congress passes the budget reconciliation bill as is.

The company says the solar field near Palo is the largest in Iowa.