Alliant weighs options for building new power plant

Cedar Rapids-based Alliant Energy is considering building a new power plant, but it’s unclear if it’d be located in Iowa or elsewhere. Spokesman John Ruff says construction would be better than outsourcing — or buying the electricity from other companies.Alliant now gets 20-percent of power from outside suppliers. Ruff says there’s a plus side to all of this for the “little guy.” He says the more competition there is for building plants, the more the customers benefit.The company is considering a one-point-five billion dollar plant, big enough to power 300-thousand homes.