Des Moines - Last week, the Iowa Utilities Board voted 2-1 to conditionally approve an application by Interstate Power & Light Company (IPL) to construct a 630-MW coal-fired power plant in Marshalltown, Iowa.
Cedar Rapids-based non-profit environmental law center Plains Justice represented a coalition of Iowa public interest organizations, including Community Energy Solutions, Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility and Iowa Renewable Energy Association, in contested proceedings before the Board.
The Board's vote to approve the plant was conditioned on a list of requirements for IPL, including:
Co-firing 5 percent biomass at the plant within the first 2 years of operation;
Co-firing 10 percent biomass at the plant within the first 5 years of operation;
Increasing the renewable energy in the IPL portfolio to 10 percent by 2013;
Increasing the renewable energy in the IPL portfolio to 25 percent by 2028; and
Installing carbon capture technology at the plant as soon as it becomes feasible.
"We're reviewing this decision very carefully before deciding whether to proceed with an appeal," said attorney Carrie La Seur, president of Plains Justice. "We are pleased with the Board's recognition of its obligation to act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to support the growth of our local renewable energy industry. The Board's decision also clearly recognizes the importance of shielding Iowa's electric consumers from the financial risks of new coal-fired generation. However, we remain concerned with the negative environmental impacts of this plant, and it is far from clear that this ruling will do anything to meaningfully reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that all the Board members identified as a problem."
In March 2008, IPL filed an application for ratemaking principles for the proposed Marshalltown coal plant, which will determine the rate of return IPL will be able to seek from Iowa consumers for the power generated at the facility.
The ratemaking principles approved by the Board will play a decisive factor in IPL's final determination of whether or not to proceed with the Marshalltown plant. Many of the conditions placed on the proposed facility by the Board in today's vote -- including the co-firing of biomass and increasing the renewable energy content of the IPL portfolio -- will be enforced through financial penalties that will receive more detailed scrutiny by parties in the ratemaking proceedings.
Community Energy Solutions, Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility and Iowa Renewable Energy Association have petitioned to intervene in the ratemaking proceedings, where they will be represented by attorneys from Plains Justice.
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