Renner Barsella, renner.barsella@sierraclub.org
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA -- This morning Alliant Energy announced that by the end of 2022, the utility plans to retire the last 275 MW power generating unit at its Lansing coal plant near Lansing, Iowa, and will invest in 400 MW of solar generation by the end of 2023, and up to 100 MW of distributed energy resources, like community solar or storage resources, by 2026. The Lansing plant emitted over 250,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide in 2019 and carbon emissions equivalent to over 100,000 cars. The announcement is part of Alliant’s Clean Energy Blueprint, the company’s “path for accelerating their transition to cleaner energy for customers.” In addition to providing advance notice about retirement, Alliant pledged to provide career assistance and coaching to help prepare workers to transition into other jobs.
Alliant’s announcement follows a comprehensive resource planning process that Sierra Club and partners helped secure in a settlement to Alliant’s 2019 Interstate Power & Light (IPL) rate case, which was joined by 10 of the 14 intervening parties. The planning process was the first of its kind in Iowa, and included economic analysis of IPL’s coal plants compared to clean energy resources like solar, wind and battery storage.
This proposal marks the 326th coal plant to be proposed for retirement nationally and joins over 60% of US coal plants that have announced plans to retire since 2010.
In response, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Deputy Director Elizabeth Katt Reinders released the following statement:
“Today we congratulate Alliant Energy on making a significant shift from coal to clean energy that will deliver $300 million in savings to customers. Alliant’s decision to retire the Lansing coal plant and to invest in significant solar resources is another example of our present energy reality: coal can no longer compete with clean energy. When put head-to-head with fossil fuels, clean energy offers lower costs, increased economic development, and cleaner air and water for Iowans. While this decision may be driven by economics, the results have a positive impact on pollution reduction and the company’s contribution to climate change.
“Alliant’s plan shows how comprehensive resource planning, which was required by a 2019 settlement agreement with Sierra Club and others -- including the environmental community, the Consumer Advocate, and industrial energy users -- can deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in savings to customers while also transitioning Iowa to clean, home-grown energy. Alliant’s process included robust stakeholder engagement, the use of advanced modeling tools, and provides a path for the future that brings significant benefits to Iowa; and should become the new standard for Iowa’s regulators and utilities.
“We appreciate Alliant’s plans to focus now on ensuring a fair transition for the Lansing workforce, and urge the company to include plans for the surrounding community and the remediation of coal ash waste on site. With the economic case for moving beyond coal now indisputably lined up with the climate case, Sierra Club calls on all utilities to face the reality of what the next decade will bring and publicly plan accordingly.”
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.