Council Bluffs Energy Center Unit 4

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Council Bluffs Energy Center Unit 4 is an operational coal plant near Council Bluffs, Iowa and the Missouri River.

MidAmerican Energy began construction on the 790 MW coal plant – utilizing supercritical technology in 2003. The plant began operating on June 1, 2007; Lincoln Electric System recently acquired 12.6% ownership of the plant. In 2007, Plains Justice filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. The suit charged MidAmerican Energy with violating the Clean Air Act by operating new sources of carbon emissions without proper permits, and constructing these new sources without first obtaining approval from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. In June 2007, MidAmerican Energy agreed to pay $27,500 in fines after the attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit claiming MidAmerican Energy had operated “11 emission points” at the Council Bluffs plant without proper permits from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Sierra Club is preparing to file a second lawsuit over emissions.

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Project Details

Sponsor: MidAmerican Energy (Berkshire Hathaway)
Location: Council Bluffs, Iowa
Capacity: 790 MW
Type: Supercritical
Status: Operating (June 2007)

Financing

• Citibank
• Credit Suisse
• Wells Fargo
• Goldman Sachs

Citizen Groups

• Plains Justice info [at] plainsjustice.org
• Iowa Sierra Club iowa.chapter [at] sierraclub.org.

Resources

Related SourceWatch Articles

• Council Bluffs Energy Center
• Carbon Capture and Storage
• Existing U.S. Coal Plants
• US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
• Coal plants cancelled in 2007
• Coal plants cancelled in 2008
• Iowa and coal
• State-by-state guide to information on coal in the United States (or click on the map)

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External links

• MidAmerican Energy's Response to Public Comments on Council Bluffs 4, May 23, 2007. (Pdf)