Articles Tagged: Duane Arnold Energy Center

Linn County is seeking citizen feedback on its proposed nuclear zoning code ahead of next week’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

The task force would make recommendations about adding nuclear energy to Iowa’s energy portfolio.

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.

The Duane Arnold Energy Center’s nuclear reactor might be active again in 2028, potentially making it the third ever decommissioned plant in the United States to resume operation.

Support coming from younger people, new technologies

The company that owns the only nuclear power plant in Iowa — located near Palo — indicated Friday it has moved to restore the site’s operating license.

In a company earnings call Wednesday, NextEra’s CEO said the company is seeing strong interest from data center customers, and it’s conducting engineering studies and talking to regulators to determine whether the Duane Arnold nuclear plant can be reopened.

Emergency managers in Linn and Johnson counties said they haven’t heard anything about resuming nuclear power generation at the Duane Arnold Energy Center, near Palo, which would be costly and would require federal authorization.

Modern technology delivers historic nuggets

Over the past few decades, green energy projects have surged in Iowa. And bolstered by federal funding, the future of clean energy looks brighter than ever in the Hawkeye State. But it needs more workers. That’s where registered apprenticeship programs and their “earn while you learn” models come into play.

A judge has ruled against Palo-area residents who filed a lawsuit last year opposing rezoning to allow two industrial-scale solar projects to be built near the former Duane Arnold Energy Center.

The 11 plaintiffs argue the solar ordinance, which was approved by the supervisors in September, constitutes “spot zoning.”

The Linn County Board of Supervisors’ first consideration of a rezoning request for the Duane Arnold Solar projects near Palo will take place on Monday.

Quad Cities’ plant opened 2 years before Duane Arnold, narrowly avoided shutdown in 2018