DES MOINES – The Iowa Utilities Board today issued an order granting Interstate Power and Light Company’s request for waiver and canceling the April 13, 2023, public evidentiary hearing regarding a proposed 150 megawatt solar electric generating facility and 75 MW battery energy storage system project in Lee County, Iowa.
IPL, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy, is seeking a certificate of public convenience, use, and necessity from the IUB to construct the project near the unincorporated community of Wever. Its application is pending before the IUB in Docket No.GCU-2022-0003.
Alliant filed its request on January 26, 2023, to waive the hearing and associated procedural requirements, noting that its request is consistent with recent IUB precedent in other solar generation certification dockets.
Thursday’s order only addresses Alliant’s request for waiver of the hearing and hearing requirements, and not its application for a certificate of public convenience, use and necessity for the proposed solar generating facility and battery storage project.
Iowa Code 476A.15 gives the IUB the authority to waive any of the requirements of Iowa Code chapter 476A “if it determines that the public interest will not be adversely affected.” Similarly, 199 Iowa Administrative Code 24.15 provides that the IUB may waive any provision of chapter 24 “if it determines that the public interest would not be adversely affected.”
The IUB may consider the purpose and type of facility, whether the facility is for the applicant’s own needs, the facility’s effect on existing transmission systems, and any other relevant factors in making that determination.
The IUB found in today’s order that waiving the hearing requirement and associated procedural schedule will not adversely affect the public interest and that, absent the waiver, Alliant (IPL) would suffer undue hardship.
Documents regarding Alliant’s solar facility and BESS project are available for review in the IUB’s electronic filing system under Docket No. GCU-2022-0003.
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