Linn County air quality meeting draws more public concerns about proposed Morgan Valley power plant

A public information session convened by the Linn County Board of Supervisors on June 24, 2026, became a forum for intense community opposition to Alliant Energy's proposed 720-megawatt Morgan Valley Energy Center. The meeting, which attracted over 100 attendees to the Jean Oxley Public Service Center in Cedar Rapids, focused on air quality permitting processes but was dominated by residents' concerns about the gas-fired power plant's potential health and environmental impacts. Kirsten Running-Marquardt, chair of the Board of Supervisors, clarified the session was not a formal public hearing and no decisions would be made.

Alliant Energy plans to build the facility, consisting of three natural gas turbines, on a 160-acre site in rural western Linn County. Ms. Running-Marquardt outlined three regulatory hurdles: an air quality permitting process, approximately 80% complete at the application stage, reviewed by Linn County Public Health and the Iowa DNR; an application for a generating certificate from the Iowa Utilities Commission; and a future rezoning application to the Linn County Board of Supervisors, which has not yet been filed. Dr. Pramod Dwivedi, Linn County Public Health Director, and Wanda Reiter Kintz, Air Quality Branch Supervisor, detailed the Title V air quality permit requirements under the Clean Air Act.

Community members, including representatives from the grassroots Save Morgan Valley group like Michelle Lee and Jon Lee, voiced concerns about air dispersion modeling, potential pollutant trapping due to local terrain and temperature inversions, and the proximity to residences. Jon Lee presented his own air monitoring data, suggesting limited margin before exceeding federal particulate matter standards. University of Iowa Professor Peter Thorne highlighted health risks associated with pollutants from gas turbines, such as nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter, noting their link to elevated childhood asthma rates and cardiovascular issues. He also questioned Alliant's use of less efficient simple-cycle turbines over combined-cycle designs.

Residents pressed for mandatory pre-construction, site-specific air monitoring, a request Alliant representative Ben Rogers, a senior community and public affairs specialist, declined to address at the meeting, citing the incomplete application. Mr. Rogers noted Alliant would hold public information sessions on July 30 in Cedar Rapids and had previously answered technical questions in Iowa Utilities Commission filings. Ms. Running-Marquardt confirmed that Alliant had directly informed her the proposed plant is intended to meet surging electricity demand from large-scale QTS and Google data center developments in the Cedar Rapids area. Questions raised at the meeting, including those Alliant representatives deferred, will be compiled and made public on the Linn County website.