A public hearing is scheduled next month as state officials review plans to switch a power plant in Cedar Rapids that’s been fueled with coal to natural gas.
Alliant Energy’s Prairie Creek Generating Station in Cedar Rapids is scheduled to stop burning coal next week, on December 31. The company plans to install natural gas boilers at the site to generate electricity. Next week, members of the public can go online to file comments on that project. A two-hour public hearing is scheduled on January 28.
According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the switch to natural gas will increase the release of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxides as well as greenhouse gas emissions from the facility. MidAmerican Energy has agreed to extend a natural gas pipeline to connect to Alliant’s power plant in Cedar Rapids and is seeking separate permits for that extension. Alliant hopes to have a new, natural-gas-powered facility generating electricity by mid-2027.