Interstate Power & Light reaches settlement with EPA on emissions and coal use

Dive Brief:

Alliant subsidiary Interstate Power & Light (IPL) has agreed to a slate of emissions reduction requirements and will pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million, ending allegations that it violated of the Clean Air Act.
The utility will install pollution controls at two coal-fired facilities and convert five others to use natural gas under a settlement reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
While many of the settlement directives have already been completed, the Sierra Club told SNL the agreement is "fairly monumental” in representing the dramatic shift away from coal use.

Dive Insight:

IPL, the EPA, Sierra Club and the State of Iowa reached a settlement on coal use and emissions, which will likely require the utility to spend $620 million on pollution controls at its largest facilities in Lansing and Ottumwa. In addition, it will retire or convert to has five other facilities.

In addition, the utility will pay a $1.1 million civil penalty related to allegations it violated the Clean Air Act, and spend $6 million on environmental mitigation.

“To serve the communities in which they operate, power plants must protect clean air for those living nearby,” Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said in a statement announcing the agreement. “This case delivers on the goals of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to reduce air pollution from the largest sources. By installing new equipment and funding mitigation projects, Interstate Power & Light can help conserve energy and cut pollution in communities across Iowa.”

EPA estimated that the settlement will reduce SO2 emissions by 32,500 tons per year and NOx emissions by 3,800 tons per year. The agreement has been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District Court of Iowa, and the public will have 30 days to comment.

Most of the requirements have been completed by the utility already, but the deal is still “fairly monumental,” a Sierra Club spokesperson told SNL Energy. It took four years to reach the agreement, and in that time Iowa reduced the number of coal facilities in the state by more than half.

Assistant Attorney General John Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said the agreement will cover all of Interstate’s coal-burning facilities, calling it a "victory for air quality and public health in Iowa."