Opinion: MidAmerican should pursue a balanced, coal-free portfolio in Wind PRIME

The climate can’t wait, and neither can MidAmerican. MidAmerican must commit to a just clean energy transition, once and for all.

Katie Rock
Guest columnist
  • Katie Rock is the campaign representative in Iowa for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign.

Iowa is at the forefront of the climate crisis. From derechos to droughts, Iowans have experienced devastating climate weather events, the frequency and severity of which will only increase with climate change.

But there’s a better future possible for our state, and MidAmerican Energy, a monopoly utility in Iowa, can make a huge difference in what the future of Iowa looks like. As the largest carbon polluter in Iowa, MidAmerican desperately needs to retire its coal plants and transition to clean energy — and its customers can save more than $120 million in doing so.

Clean energy solutions are not only better for the environment, but more economic than dangerous, expensive fossil fuels. New analysis conducted by independent experts on behalf of the Sierra Club, Environmental Law and Policy Center, and Iowa Environmental Council demonstrates that MidAmerican can save customers more than $120 million while reducing climate pollution by at least 25 million tons of carbon by 2035 through a combination of coal retirements and investing in battery storage, solar, and more wind energy. Those carbon emissions are the equivalent of taking more than 5 million cars off the road, or more than all the cars in Iowa.

Despite the clear economic and environmental benefits of a complete transition to clean energy, MidAmerican’s Wind PRIME proposal would add 2,042 megawatts of wind and 50 megawatts of solar to its energy portfolio, but would also plan on keeping its five colossal coal plants running in Iowa. At this point in the climate crisis, any plans to keep costly, dangerous fossil fuels up and running are unconscionable for the health and safety of Iowans.

Climate activists, Indigenous leaders, and community members speak about climate change in Cowles Commons before a march to the downtown offices of MidAmerican Energy to demand an end to coal fired power plants in Iowa, Friday, April 22, 2022.

This groundbreaking analysis from Sierra Club, ELPC, and IEC shows that MidAmerican doesn’t have to continue to burn coal to reliably and affordably meet Iowa’s electricity needs. This is consistent with national trends, as utilities around the country are finding that coal plants cannot compete with low-cost, clean energy sources — and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act has only furthered these significant economic benefits.

This more balanced clean energy approach of focusing on adding battery storage and solar, in combination with coal retirements, could help MidAmerican move closer to meeting customer demand for 100% carbon-free energy, around the clock, today, while maintaining reliability and affordability. Our analysis shows a course correction that prioritizes more battery storage and more solar to complement wind energy will firm up Iowa’s existing renewable energy. Wind energy already provides half of MidAmerican’s baseload power. MidAmerican’s Wind PRIME plan, as is, would keep its five costly coal plants open for 20 years or more, despite the cheaper and more reliable alternatives available.

The climate can’t wait, and neither can MidAmerican. MidAmerican must commit to a just clean energy transition, once and for all. There’s a cleaner path for MidAmerican to meet Iowa’s energy needs and save customers more than $120 million.

Katie Rock

Katie Rock is the campaign representative in Iowa for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, a national campaign to retire the U.S. coal fleet by 2030. Raised in Muscatine, she has lived in Des Moines for over 10 years with her family. Contact: katie.rock@sierraclub.org.