Renner Barsella, renner.barsella@sierraclub.org, 217-390-9394
DES MOINES, IA -- A new report, released today by the Sierra Club, finds that MidAmerican Energy’s George Neal North and South coal plants near Sioux City have lost $27.5 million for its customers over the last five years. Low energy prices in 2020 have only worsened the performance of these plants, which are the most expensive in MidAmerican’s coal fleet in Iowa. The report, which is based on analysis of MidAmerican’s own data, shows that by committing to retire both plants by 2023, MidAmerican could save customers $92 million.
“Anyone who’s visited MidAmerican’s website has probably seen the wind turbines touted on the homepage. But all that new wind is an addition to, not a replacement of, dirty coal generation. MidAmerican has not even considered whether retiring its existing coal plants could provide savings to customers. So we did the math for them. It would,” said Katie Rock, Campaign Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Iowa.
Iowa’s continued reliance on coal-fired power plants remains the state’s largest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions. The size of MidAmerican’s coal fleet makes it the single largest carbon polluter in the state and the utility remains one of the 20 largest utility companies in the nation with no climate commitment or emissions reductions target. Retiring George Neal North and South would be the carbon equivalent of taking over 750,000 cars off the road, yet it still reflects only 17% of MidAmerican’s carbon emissions from coal.
“It’s great that MidAmerican wants to be the first utility in the nation to provide 100% renewable energy to its customers, but for that promise to matter to its ratepayers and our environment, MidAmerican needs to end the unnecessary pollution from burning coal that we’re paying to support.,” said Carrie Radloff, chair of the Northwest Iowa Sierra Club group .
MidAmerican ranks 14th in the volume of coal generation by a U.S. operating company while parent company Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s (BHE) western utility subsidiary PacifiCorp ranks first. When combined, these companies leave BHE ranked 4th in the volume of coal generated power by U.S. parent companies.
In the fall 2019, PacifiCorp released updates to its long-term energy plans. Included was PacifiCorps’ announcement to retire its entire coal fleet by 2040, including phasing out 2800 MW of coal by 2030, and replacing it with lower cost wind, solar, storage and expanded transmission investments. To date, MidAmerican has made no public commitment to retire any of it’s Iowa coal fleet.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.