Fairfax residents debate whether or not to support Alliant power plant

FAIRFAX, Iowa (KCRG) — Fairfax may not be out of the running for a new Alliant power generating plant. The company announced last week it would not pursue construction of a plant near the Eastern Iowa Airport.

Alliant Energy initially planned to build a power plant in the area of 76th avenue southwest near Fairfax and just a few miles away from the Eastern Iowa Airport.

The airport objected, and commissioned a report that highlighted safety risks and business impacts if that location was selected.

Though Alliant said it’s deprioritizing that specific location near the airport, the company hasn’t said where its alternative locations could be. That means another Fairfax location could be chosen.

Supporters say the city could potentially earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenues if the plant is built within the city limits.

“So our town is not growing. So nobody’s coming to Fairfax. How are we going to fund things in this town?,” said Amy Stauffer-Heggebo.

Others expressed concerns with the power plant being close to the city, saying it would be an eyesore.

“We don’t want to grow any bigger. We are concerned about our health. We’re concerned about the fire safety, we don’t have the capacity to take care of something like this, we don’t wanna live by these huge towers,” said one resident attending the citizen information meeting.

Originally city council members estimated the city could receive more than $1.6 million from the power plant, but one city council member told TV9 he expects number to be much lower, closer to $350,000.

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