Iowa’s only nuclear plant to shutdown in 2020
Duane Arnold Energy Center in Palo, Iowa’s sole nuclear power plant, will shut down in late 2020, its owner announced Friday — five years sooner than the current power purchase agreement between NextEra Energy Resources and Alliant Energy.
That agreement, which requires approval from the Iowa Utilities Board, means the plant is expected to cease commercial operations in 2020, NextEra said.
Alliant’s agreement with NextEra originally was set to run until 2025.
“The eventual closing of the Duane Arnold Energy Center is a difficult decision because of the approximately 500 highly skilled men and women who consistently have made it one of the top-performing nuclear facilities in the county,” NextEra’s President and Chief Executive Officer Armando Pimentel said in the release.
GRADUAL DRAWDOWN
Duane Arnold, which first began producing power in 1975, is located about nine miles northwest of Cedar Rapids and is one of the larger employers in Linn County.
