Public meeting discusses process, implementation of proposed Alliant Energy battery energy storage system at former Lansing Generating Station site
Public meeting held on proposed battery energy storage system at former power plant site ... More than two dozen area residents attended a public meeting Wednesday, March 19 at the Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center in Lansing to hear Alliant Energy and the Iowa Utilities Commission present information and answer questions regarding a proposed battery energy storage system that would be constructed and operated at the site of the former Lansing Generating Station just south of Lansing. In addition to information presented by Alliant Energy staff and members of the Iowa Utilities Commission on the process of bringing the proposed energy storage system to reality at the site, each of those representatives also fielded questions from those in attendance regarding a variety of topics. Standard photo by Joe Moses.
Photo examples of proposed system ... Images above were part of the March 19 presentation by Alliant Energy and the Iowa Utilities Commission regarding a proposed battery energy storage system to be constructed and operated at the former Alliant Energy Lansing Generating Station south of Lansing. The system being proposed would look similar to the aerial and ground-level views above provided by Alliant Energy with a proposed capacity to hold 280 megawatts of power generated by a variety of sources.
Map images show location ... The map images above were part of the March 19 presentation by Alliant Energy and the Iowa Utilities Commission regarding a proposed battery energy storage system to be constructed and operated at the former Alliant Energy Lansing Generating Station site near Lansing. The top image shows the relative location of the proposed system south of Lansing along the Mississippi River, and the aerial view in the bottom image shows the physical location of the former Lansing Generating Station where the proposed system would be located, with the system to be constructed on the existing concrete foundation already available at the site, where the generating station once stood.
by Joe Moses
A public informational meeting was held Wednesday, March 19 at the Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center in Lansing relating to a proposed battery energy storage system to be located at the site of Alliant Energy’s decommissioned Lansing Generating Station, just south of Lansing, with more than two dozen area residents and officials attending the meeting. At the request of Alliant Energy’s Iowa utility Interstate Power and Light (IPL) Company, the meeting was coordinated by the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) with representatives present from that organization including attorneys Cheyenne Whisner and Hunter Fors.
Whisner began the meeting by discussing the intent of this process to provide background information to potentially affected property owners in addition to describing their legal rights and actions available. Whisner noted IUC’s role as a regulatory body relating to this application/certificate process and in overseeing that public meeting requirements are met at this meeting in addition to providing an overview of the meeting agenda relating to this proposed project by Interstate Power and Light Company.
Beyond the role of IUC, Whisner discussed the involvement of the Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA), a division of the Iowa Attorney General’s office, which she noted is a party in this process that receives and reviews all filings relating to electric transmission dockets before the IUC including all publicly filed objections. The meeting agenda and Whisner’s introduction noted that this project application is associated with Docket No. GCU-2025-0001.
That docket number will need to be referenced for all email and written communications to be included in the official docket record including letters of support, comments and objections provided to: Iowa Utilities Commission, 1375 E. Court Ave., Des Moines, IA 50319-0069, Email: iuc@iuc.iowa.gov and Website: iuc.iowa.gov. Phone calls or verbal communication will not be considered as part of the official docket record.
The deadline for public comments to be submitted regarding the project will be set by the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) after Alliant Energy submits its application to the IUC, which is expected to take place in the coming weeks, according to Alliant Energy Senior Communications Partner Morgan Hawk. “Per IUC requirements, the application must be submitted no less than 30 days after the public informational meeting (which was March 19), so it will be late April at the earliest,” Hawk noted.
The meeting moved into its project information/presentation portion. Senior Renewables Development Specialist Amanda Kesler of Alliant Energy provided introductions on behalf of herself and colleagues from Alliant Energy including Manager of Engineering Abichu Abebe and Legal Counsel Matthew Sowden. Kesler provided an overview of the project relating to the proposed battery energy storage facility at the retired Lansing Generating Station which she advised will utilize existing infrastructure.
Kesler shared that as the electric grid evolves, Alliant Energy continues to integrate new and innovative solutions, emerging technologies and traditional generation systems to provide improved reliability and to help better meet customer needs. Kesler noted that the battery storage site will store excess electricity from traditional generation and renewable sources like wind and solar and will allow energy release into the grid during peak usage times as needed.
Kesler advised that the proposed battery storage facility will provide up to a 280MW/1,120MWh capacity of battery energy storage at the retired coal generating facility property with the containerized battery system to involve lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells. She described the storage facility as being similar in appearance to 20-foot shipping containers with each container to include a redundant liquid-cooled heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in addition to smoke, heat and gas detection.
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