A public health meeting hosted by the Linn County Board of Supervisors turned tense Wednesday night as more than two dozen residents directed air quality questions at an Alliant Energy representative, who refused to provide answers about the 720-megawatt natural gas power plant the company is proposing for the community.
The utility provider, also known as Iowa Interstate Power and Light Company, wants the proposed Title 5 Morgan Valley Energy power plant operational by 2030. On its website, Alliant denies the facility will exclusively serve data centers, stating it is meant to support “overall system reliability and long-term load growth” for its roughly 490,000 Iowa customers.
However, Linn County Supervisor Kirsten Running-Marquardt isn’t so sure. She said a trio of Alliant representatives—Emily Kaiser, Dennis Jordan, and Ali El-Zein—told her directly the plant would power newly constructed data centers in Cedar Rapids.
“They told me to my face in person that this power plant is to provide some of the power” for local Google and QTS data centers, Running-Marquardt told Iowa Starting Line.
Running-Marquardt and residents tie the project to 13 new data centers under construction on Cedar Rapids’ southwest side, and they aren’t happy about it given the escalating concerns they—like many communities nationwide—have with these facilities.
“Is it fair that people have to take on the health risks associated with this plant when the power is just for other billion dollar corporations,” Running-Marquardt questioned. “Alliant has not come out and said that these data centers are the ones that are going to be paying the infrastructure and long-term costs for this, so I worry about increased costs from Alliant for our residents as well.”
The issue drew crowds to the County Public Health meeting on June 24, filling the main room and two overflow areas equipped with live feeds. Ahead of the meeting, Alliant representative Ben Rogers stated the company must meet increasing demand from expanding businesses, but noted they have yet to submit a formal air permit application.
“Because of that, I am not able to address project-specific questions,” Rogers said.
Critics of the facility are unhappy that many of their questions are going unanswered. Jenny Kellison, spokesperson for the grassroots group Save Morgan Valley, which is opposed to the plant, said residents were disheartened that Alliant failed to explain why they wouldn’t use a selective catalytic reduction converter to reduce pollution by 90% as one example.
“Once this decision is made, you know, we can’t go back,” Kellison told Iowa Starting Line. “When a proposed gas plant moves in, that takes away the safe feeling… we know that it’s the first domino in a series of industrial buildouts in this area.”
Meanwhile, Running-Marquardt notes that Alliant has not guaranteed that costs for the facility could be passed to Alliant customers through base rate reviews or energy adjustment clauses. She also warned that while Alliant remains under a rate freeze until 2030, that’s when the power plant is meant to become operational, leaving no guarantee that residential ratepayers won’t bear the infrastructure and long-term costs.
The power plant is not yet a done deal, however. According to Linn County public health officials the company’s air quality permitting process is only 80% complete, and Alliant has yet to submit the rezoning application to the Linn County Board of Supervisors, which would enforce an ordinance requiring that it is located at least 2.25 miles from any residential dwellings if approved.
The Clean Air Act categorizes Title 5 facilities like the proposed Morgan Valley plant as such when their annual pollution emitted exceeds 100 tons annually. One of these pollutants, PM2.5, is a known cancer causing particle that would disperse from the smoke stacks if the plant is approved.
Save Morgan Valley members took the public comment session as an opportunity to voice their concerns with the pollution to Alliant and the county board.
“You keep telling the supervisors you’re just here to check a box, I want you to know what’s in that box. It’s my home—less than a mile from this plant. It’s my wife. It’s my kids. It’s everyone in this room. So, when you check that box, you’re checking us off,” said Jon Lee, a member of Save Morgan Valley. “Measure the air where we live. Before, and after. That’s all we have ever asked.”
Alliant will next host an open house meeting on July 30 with two sessions scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the IBEW Local Event Hall in Southwest Cedar Rapids. Rogers said questions that were not answered Wednesday night will be answered at the open house.
