Alliant holds informational meeting about proposed 1200 megawatt power plant facility next to Emery Generating Station. May 14, 2026 5:30AM CDT CLEAR LAKE - A public information meeting was held in Clear Lake last night by the Iowa Utilities Commission and Alliant Energy about a proposed 1200 megawatt, natural gas-fired combustion turbine power plant facility in southwestern Cerro Gordo County. Alliant says the proposed Riverhawk Energy Center is proposed to be adjacent to the company's existing Emery Generating Station, which has been online since 2004. While some in the room believed the project is tied to some sort of data center project inside the county, Alliant Energy's Interstate Power & Light president May Farlinger says the company needs to address the growing demand for energy across their territory. "We don't build power plants specifically for any one given customer. We are seeing growth on our system. Some of it coming from data centers. Some of it coming from manufacturing. Some coming from existing customers. So we're evaluating all that growth, our system, the needs from a reliability standpoint, and making decisions for future investments based on all those factors and many more." Farlinger says residential customers will not end up paying a lot more for large growth projects such as this. "Those costs are assigned to the customers that are creating the demand. You will only pay for the system growth needed to serve you. Reliability comes first, it always does, and the investments that we're making to ensure a reliable system will be reviewed by the regulators before anything is reflected in the rates that you pay." Alliant assistant vice president of strategic projects Dave Herkert says the proposed center is intended to complement other generation resources in their portfolio to keep reliability in the center and costs as stable as possible. "We have an obligation to serve customers within our service territory. This project is needed to meet project demand and load capacity. With 1200 megawatts of on-demand capacity, Riverhawk strengthens grid resilience and supports reliability during peak demand and extreme weather. Facilities like Riverhawk Energy Center can ramp up and ramp down to support energy needs when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing." Last night's meeting was the first step for Alliant in the regulatory process for the proposed project. Regulatory review of the project is scheduled to wrap up next year with a potential decision by the Iowa Utilities Commission sometime in 2027. The proposed timeline would see the center go online in 2031. You can see a copy of last night's presentation by clicking at the following link - Riverhawk Energy Center Informational Meeting Recently played. | 1979The Smashing Pumpkins 4:10pm | | 1979The Smashing Pumpkins 4:10pm | | Rock And Roll Never ForgetsBob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band 4:06pm | | Rock And Roll Never ForgetsBob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band 4:06pm | | Owner Of A Lonely HeartYes 4:03pm |

Tom still: how a dane county tech firm helps to support the Wisconsin economy. * 1 hr ago Seven billionaires from Wisconsin appear on Forbes' most recent list of the world's richest people. State regulators ordered Madison-based utility Alliant Energy to release more details about the $1 billion data center project in Beaver Dam.

Proposed Morgan Valley Energy Center south of Highway 30 still in first-step review stage. by Kaylee Wynne Mon, March 23, 2026 at 10:32 PM CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Representatives from Alliant Energy and the Iowa Utilities Commission met with residents to discuss a proposed power plant in rural Linn County, drawing strong reactions from community members. The proposed Morgan Valley Energy Center would be located south of Highway 30 near Linn-Benton Road. Officials said the meeting marked an early step in the process, with no final decisions made. "Tonight is just the first step," said Joshua Byrnes of the Iowa Utilities Commission. Residents who attended the meeting raised concerns about potential impacts, including safety risks, increased traffic, environmental effects, and noise and light pollution. Some also questioned how the project would be studied and monitored moving forward. "You talk about all the things you're concerned about. What about the residents? What about the people?" one resident said. Others said they want more transparency about existing environmental data and future oversight. The project remains in the early planning stages and must go through multiple levels of approval, including review by the Iowa Utilities Commission and local regulations. Alliant Energy officials said they plan to continue engaging with the public as the proposal develops. You can file an objection, letter of support or provide a comment using the Iowa Utilities Open Docket Comment Form.