From yard signs to petition-signing drives and comments at local governmental meetings, the mission is clear: Save Morgan Valley is persistent in its opposition to Alliant Energy’s proposal for a natural gas-fired power plant in western Linn County.
Save Morgan Valley describes itself as “a grassroots community organization advocating for the protection of rural communities, public health, farmland, natural resources, and wildlife.”
The group formed about two months ago, after Alliant announced plans for the Morgan Valley Energy Center, a proposed 720-megawatt natural gas power plant planned on a 160-acre site near the intersection of Highway 30 and Linn-Benton Road in unincorporated Linn County.
The proposed Linn County site proposal came after Alliant said it would seek a new location for a natural gas power plant. The company had previously announced plans to build a plant in Fairfax, but later said they were “deprioritizing” that site after safety concerns raised by the Eastern Iowa Airport.
Alliant says it evaluated multiple locations before identifying the new Morgan Valley site as “the most cost-effective and suitable option,” citing proximity to transmission infrastructure and its largest Iowa load center.
The Iowa Utilities Board is currently reviewing an application from Interstate Power and Light Company – Alliant’s Iowa operating division – to build the facility.
The IUB’s docket for the project already includes more than 200 filings, many expressing opposition to Alliant’s plans. Many of those comments have come from Save Morgan Valley members.
The group
Jenny Kellison, the media lead for Save Morgan Valley, described the group as having formed roughly two months ago.
While many group members live within a few miles of the proposed plant, most didn’t know each other before the group came together, she said.
“We literally meet in one of the guys’ farm sheds,” she said.
The group is composed of residents of Linn and Benton counties, primarily within what Ms. Kellison described as a 10-mile “impact radius” around the plant site. That impact radius, she said, extends into downtown Cedar Rapids, Fairfax, Hiawatha and neighboring Benton County communities.
Ms. Kellison said she moved to the Heartland Heights neighborhood in Fairfax “because it’s a small town, because of the remoteness.”
She said she learned about the group in a very personal way.
“Someone knocked on my door and says, ‘Hey, there’s going to be a power plant right over there that you can see from your front door,’” Ms. Kellison said. “It’s disheartening. You don’t expect it.”
Other members of the group include Jon Lee, whose property is less than a half mile from the proposed site and has spoken frequently about the project at local government meetings, and Abe Kellison, who has called for community volunteers to help with outreach.
Ms. Kellison said the group has gathered more than 2,000 signatures from Linn and Benton county residents. Petition events were held in Atkins, Cedar Rapids, and Fairfax, and more events are scheduled in the coming weeks.
Save Morgan Valley has retained legal counsel, Ms Kellison said, and has filed as a formal intervenor in the IUC case, along with the Linn County Board of Supervisors, the Fairfax City Council and other entities.
Key concerns
Group members have raised several concerns about the proposal. They generally fall into a few main categories.
Public health and air quality, including several airborne emissions from a natural gas combustion facility. Ms. Kellison cited particular risks for children, older adults, and people with respiratory conditions such as asthma.
The group has requested site-specific air quality testing information. Linn County Public Health has posted a Q&A in response to community questions, but Save Morgan Valley said it was insufficient, stating “many residents still feel only limited public questions have been formally addressed, while permitting and technical review continue moving forward.”
Linn County leaders plan to address the county’s air quality permitting process in a public meeting Wednesday, June 24 at 6 p.m. at the Jean Oxley Public Service Center. Public health officials and an outside expert are slated to present information at that meeting.
Water consumption. Ms. Kellison cited concern about cumulative water impacts given the broader industrialization of the area, including the QTS and Google data center projects under construction in southwest Cedar Rapids and the proposed restart of the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant near Palo.
Wildlife, ecosystems and farmland. Ms. Kellison said Save Morgan Valley is concerned about habitat disruption and the conversion of high-rated agricultural land to industrial use.
Noise and light pollution, noted as a concern alongside the primary air and water issues.
Location, and data center connection
A significant organizing factor for the group is the belief – as conveyed by statements made at Fairfax City Council meetings – that the plant’s power is intended to serve data center expansion in the area, not general public need.
Alliant representatives have said the proposed plant is needed “to support long‑term energy security and reliability for our customers,” not for any specific end user.
But Ms. Kellison said she’s not convinced.
“We all know that it’s for the data centers,” Ms. Kellison said. “Everyone can connect the dots.”
Ms. Kellison also said Fairfax mayor Jo Ann Beer confirmed at a recent council meeting that a developer has approached the city about building data centers along the corridor from the plant site on Linn-Benton County Road to 80th Street. That only serves to heighten Ms. Kellison’s concerns.
“Once that power plant goes in, it’s additional power,” she said. “We know that the next step would be additional data centers.”
While the plant’s specific location is a major focus for the Save Morgan Valley group, the issue is larger than that, Ms. Kellison said.
“We want the power source to not be there, so that it doesn’t provide the domino for future data centers,” she said. “But no matter what the power was for, we would still want a different location.”
Benton County exclusion
The proposed Morgan Valley site borders Benton County just to the west, but Ms. Kellison said residents of Benton County, including the nearby community of Atkins, haven’t been formally approached about the plans.
While Alliant may not legally be required to consult with Benton County residents, Ms. Kellison said they should.
“If you’re going to try to pursue an industrial business in that area, right on the county line, you need to be neighborly, and you need to respect the fact that the plant’s not going to see county lines,” Ms. Kellison said. “The air quality isn’t going to be any different in Benton County than it is in Linn County.”
She described Alliant’s public statements on the project as repetitive and non-responsive.
“It’s the same statements that they’ve been giving,” she said. “There’s no questions being answered.”
Broader context
Ms. Kellison said the proposed plant is one piece of a larger pattern of rural industrialization, which she said has accelerated since she moving to Fairfax two years ago – from the data centers to power line construction, a substation in Walford, and proposed development corridors linking infrastructure from the plant site into Fairfax.
“Nobody wants to be surrounded by a bunch of data centers and power plants,” she said. “That wasn’t what you signed up for.”
Impact on farmland values
Ms. Kellison also raised concerns about Alliant’s purchase of the property, and its impact on the price of farmland in the area.
She said industrial developers like Alliant are paying several times the average market rate for the farmland they’re purchasing.
She said her concern was not simply that landowners were being well-compensated. She argued the offers are distorting the broader farmland market in a way that harms prospective farmers. She said landowners are now holding out for industrial-level offers, rather than selling at agricultural market rates.
“The expectation for farmers is that it’s coming, and that’s what they want,” she said. “If you want to purchase farmland as just somebody who wants to start farming, it’s going to be nearly impossible, because they’re waiting for those offers of the higher dollar.”
FYI and upcoming meetings
Save Morgan Valley will be hosting a town hall meeting Tuesday, June 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the American Legion Post 217 in Atkins, and is planning additional town hall meetings in Walford and Cedar Rapids. All meetings are open to the public.
The group is also planning a number of petition signing events around the area.
Learn more at the group’s website, savemorganvalley.com.
