The first reading of a new zoning ordinance amendment governing the siting of natural gas-fired power plants in Linn County’s unincorporated areas was approved by the Board of Supervisors Monday, March 9, with a pair of new amendments – including one that leaders say will provide some “flexibility” on setbacks in some cases.
The zoning amendment, which would add gas-fired power plants as an allowable use in the county’s new EU-2 zoning designation while adding a series of zoning conditions, is intended to create specific standards for the proposed locations of natural gas power plant projects.
In addition to a range of setback requirements from neighboring properties, the amendment also adds standards for noise, airport safety areas, air quality, impacts on roads, and what information must be included in applications for new plants.
According to county officials, the goal of the ordinance “to create clear and consistent rules that help power plants fit with nearby land uses and account for the long-term impacts of large energy facilities, while maintaining consistency with the Development Guidance portion of Linn County’s Comprehensive Plan.”
Even as the ordinance was recommended for approval by the county’s Planning Commission in January, some commission members felt the ordinance’s proposed 2.25-mile setback from population centers – intended to provide a buffer between communities and utility infrastructure projects – was overly restrictive and arbitrary, and the commission ultimately recommended a one-mile setback as a “middle ground.”
Planning and Development director Charlie Nichols said the 2.25-mile setback was designed to achieve two primary objectives.
“First, if the facility is not going to be placed within city limits, where it is typically most appropriate to locate these kinds of uses, we don’t want it right on the edge of the city, as a type of ‘leapfrog development’ that then the city has to develop around and adjust for as they grow,” he said. “We are also seeing something new in the development trends of these power generation facilities … colocation of other uses that use power – data centers, battery energy storage systems, other grid upgrades. (So we want) to allow for that co-location of uses while still being far enough away from city boundaries to allow for city boundary growth over time.”
The new ordinance comes as Alliant Energy has announced plans to pursue a new site near Fairfax for a proposed natural gas-fired power plant, after a previous proposal to build the plant in Fairfax was dropped amid community pushback and safety concerns raised by the Eastern Iowa Airport.
Alliant spokesperson Taylor Adams said March 5 that the company has “secured purchase options” on a site up to 160 acres south of Highway 30 and east of Linn-Benton Road, northwest of Fairfax, to build the new gas-fired power plant.
The plant will be known as the Morgan Valley Energy Center, Ms. Adams said. The proposed site is in the vicinity of Morgan Valley Road and Morgan Bridge Road and south of the Morgan Creek Market.
“The Morgan Valley Energy Center is intended to serve Alliant Energy customers by providing safe, reliable, and cost‑effective energy,” Ms. Adams said.
Dennis Jordan, director of customer, community and economic development for Alliant Energy, said the plant will serve as an “investment in energy infrastructure to help local businesses, receive power, support economic development and ensure the region is prepared to meet the growing energy needs.”
He said the site near Fairfax was chosen as a “compromise” to comply with the ordinance’s 2.25-mile setback requirement, but asked that the ordinance provide some flexibility for siting any future plants.
“We are willing to meet the board where it is today,” he said. “However, we respectfully ask the Board to consider not permanently codifying that restriction zone into the ordinance. This approach allows for flexibility to enable future investment. Reliable energy is foundational for Linn County’s future. Siting and building generation facilities already require a rigorous, multi-layered regulatory process involving local, state and federal agencies charged with protecting public health and the environment. We believe those safeguards, combined with thoughtful local policy, can strike the right balance.”
While the ordinance advanced by the board of supervisors Monday still includes the 2.25-mile restriction, supervisors voted to add an amendment that provides a potential 25% reduction in the setback distance under certain circumstances.
Supervisor Kirsten Running-Marquardt said she felt flexibility on the setback requirement provided a middle-ground approach.
“We are showing that we are putting people first and they are our priority,” she said. “We can be pro-growth here in the county, and also balance that with people’s economic and community’s needs and concerns. I believe that having the continued setback at 2.25, and then also being able to have this option, in case a particular situation arises, is fair and balanced.”
Ms. Marquardt also pressed Mr. Jordan about how the project might impact electrical costs for Linn County residents.
“I do have some concerns about rates being raised, especially on residents,” she said. “It weighs very heavily upon myself and from others, when you’re talking about infrastructure and the spreading out … that just sounds like higher rates for everyone, especially residents.”
“Residents will not have to pay for the infrastructure related to this generation outside of what would normally be spread across our system,” Mr. Jordan responded, “so I would not expect an increase in either rates or fees associated with (this project).”
Mr. Jordan also said that the plant is not being developed solely to address the power needs of two data centers now under construction in Linn County.
“I want to be very clear that this power plant is not only for the data centers, it’s for all of our customers,” he said. “We routinely work with industry here in Linn County and all across the state, looking to expand their operations. We’re also talking to a number of companies that are not currently here, that are looking to come here, and they’re asking the very same question about power availability. We have to be able to demonstrate that we can support their needs by providing cost-effective power.”
The supervisors also voted to add a second amendment to the ordinance, requiring a waste management plan for gas-fired power plant construction projects. The amendment’s verbiage will be similar to that approved for the county’s data center ordinance.
That amendment requires developers to document the estimated values and types of material to be generated during construction; identification of materials proposed for recycling, salvage and reuse; designated recycling disposal facilities, procedures for on-site, material separation and storage; and documentation requirements for final disposal or diversion.
It was spurred, Mr. Nichols said, from concerns raised by Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency officials, who said waste materials from the data center construction projects weren’t being segregated for recycling, resulting in a substantial waste stream for the landfill.
Those concerns come as county officials pursue a new memorandum of understanding with waste management with the City of Marion, the City of Cedar Rapids, and the Solid Waste Agency regarding the future of the regional landfill on County Home Road, which has been approaching its capacity more quickly than anticipated.
The second and third readings of the amended ordinance are slated for March 11 and March 18, each at 10 a.m. at the Jean Oxley Public Service Center.
