Renner Barsella, renner.barsella@sierraclub.org, 217-390-9394
DES MOINES, IA -- Yesterday, Sierra Club filed direct testimony of its expert witness in the rate case of Interstate Power & Light (IPL) at the Iowa Utilities Board. IPL owns all or part of seven coal plants in Iowa. The expert analysis focused on the economics of IPL’s coal units and the units it co-owns with MidAmerican Energy. The conclusions, drawn from analysis of publicly available data and supported by IPL’s own confidential data, suggest that all of IPL’s coal resources are uneconomic compared to market prices and renewable resources, and that ratepayers are losing money on the continued operation of these plants.
The testimony [link] states that continued operation of any of IPL’s coal resources would not be beneficial to customers, as the costs to operate and maintain the plants exceed the market value of the electricity they provide. Additionally, many of the utility’s owned and co-owned coal plants face additional investment to meet water and waste-related environmental laws. The testimony explains the reasons why a utility may continue to run an uneconomic coal plant, why this practice is increasingly common among vertically-integrated utilities in regulated states, and how economic losses are passed on to customers through rates.
The testimony concludes with a recommendation that IPL plan for the retirement of all its coal resources, begin the process of planning for replacement resources, and think through cost-recovery timing and ratemaking to prevent customers from carrying the financial burden. This expert analysis of IPL’s coal fleet economics is consistent with findings from across the country, where coal generation has lost its ability to compete economically with plummeting renewable energy costs and declining gas prices.
In response, Sierra Club Iowa’s Chapter Director, Pam Mackey-Taylor released the following statement:
“We’ve seen it happening across the country, and now it’s time to face the facts in Iowa: coal can’t compete. We’ve known for decades that coal is dirty, polluting, that it damages our health and disrupts our climate. And now we know it’s also burdening Iowans with unnecessary and avoidable costs.
“Iowa has an abundance of wind and solar resources that are cheap, clean and renewable. There’s no reason IPL should be clinging to coal when it’s polluting our communities and costing customers hundreds of millions of dollars to operate. Running these coal plants is not in the best interest of Iowans. It’s time for IPL to make a real plan to move off coal and let Iowans reap the benefits with their health and their wallets.”
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.