Opinion: Retiring Iowa coal power plants is in reach

MidAmerican hides behind a call for reliability to keep their coal plants open, but this is a self-serving narrative to justify profits made by selling excess energy from running outdated coal plants.

Steve Guyer
Guest columnist
  • Steve Guyer is Energy Policy Manager with the Iowa Environmental Council.

Thank you to the Register editorial board for raising the urgency about the need to shift away from coal in a recent editorial. It is critical Iowans understand what is at stake, and how MidAmerican Energy’s Wind PRIME proposal misses the mark on a true clean energy transition. 

It is equally important for Iowans to know retiring coal is not an idealistic dream. MidAmerican hides behind a call for reliability to keep their coal plants open, but this is a self-serving narrative to justify their corporate profits made by selling excess energy made from running their outdated coal plants.

Data and extensive research proves that a phased transition to a mix of renewable sources, plus the addition of energy storage, can deliver a more reliable and affordable energy grid for consumers. In fact, renewable energy plus storage can increase reliability by removing the vulnerability of fuel supply chains and extreme weather impacts associated with running coal and natural gas plants.

The Iowa Environmental Council, along with the Environmental Law and Policy Center and Sierra Club, filed joint testimony in MidAmerican’s Wind PRIME docket before the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB). MidAmerican’s Wind PRIME project, which would add 2,042 MW of wind and only 50 MW of solar, relies on the company’s plans to continue operating five large coal-burning power plants in Iowa. These coal plants make MidAmerican the single largest carbon polluter in the state.

Our testimony included independent technical modeling analysis of MidAmerican’s generating fleet performed by Synapse Energy Economics and Energy Futures Group. This analysis shows a balanced, reliable, renewable portfolio that adds a mix of battery storage, solar, and some wind, while retiring all of MidAmerican’s Iowa coal plants by 2035, delivers $120 million in cost savings relative to MidAmericans’s current plan, which focuses almost exclusively on new wind resources and continued coal burning.

MidAmerican’s own internal studies, which the IUB forced them to make public, even showed more solar energy would benefit Iowa ratepayers. Their Zero Emissions Study noted that solar is the lowest cost renewable option and fills in  "on-peak periods” The study concluded that "solar and storage are good candidates to provide the required energy as summer on-peak energy is the primary need."

In contrast, MidAmerican’s Wind PRIME project would add 2,042 megawatts(MW) of wind, but only 50 MW of solar and zero battery storage.

More solar and storage in the portfolio would provide more around-the-clock clean energy than MidAmerican’s proposed Wind PRIME portfolio, while also avoiding substantial operation and maintenance costs and the additional capital investments that would be required to maintain MidAmerican’s aging coal fleet.

Resource diversity is critical to a reliable energy system. Diversified clean energy, coupled with storage and a robust transmission system, can provide all of our energy needs in Iowa and at a lower cost for ratepayers.

No one is saying the coal plants should shut down overnight. Strategic resource planning and modeling can create a phased out approach that balances new diversified generation sources and storage. It’s critical, for the health and wealth of Iowans, that MidAmerican stops misleading their captive customers and delivers a real clean energy future without coal.

Steve Guyer

Steve Guyer is Energy Policy Manager with the Iowa Environmental Council.