Alliant Energy committed to repair flood-damaged Sixth Street Generating Station to provide steam long-term to downtown customers

Interstate Power and Light Co. (IPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corporation (NYSE: LNT), has committed to making the investment required to rebuild its Sixth Street Generating Station pending the securing of long-term customer contracts and required approvals. The Sixth Street plant has provided both electricity and steam generation to customers in the downtown Cedar Rapids area for more than 100 years.

The June 2008 floods severely damaged IPL’s Sixth Street plant. Once flood waters receded, the company focused its efforts on assessing damage to both the plant and the underground steam system. Most of the steam system has been repaired and IPL has committed to providing steam to its customers for the upcoming heating season using a combination of temporary natural gas-fired package boilers at its Sixth Street site.

With assessments to its Sixth Street plant now completed, IPL will begin the process of talking with customers over the next 60 days. The output of the plant is expected to be approximately 80 percent coal-fired and 20 percent natural gas-fired. The rebuild could be complete by the 2009/2010 heating season if required approvals and long-term customer contracts are secured.

”We are committed to continuing our commitment to provide steam power to our customers,” said Tom Aller, President – IPL. “These past few months have been a challenging time for our customers, our company and the community. The damage to our Sixth Street plant was extensive, but we are working hard to find a long-term solution that will allow us to continue to provide heat and hot water capability for our customers. We realize this is an important piece to rebuilding our downtown district as we all work together to recover from the flood.”