Alliant Energy Sixth Street Generating Station (steam heat) in Cedar Rapids

[Lucas Daniel Smith]

Apparently the plant began providing electric service on January 1st, 1888 and their steam service began on October 10th, 1892.

It's also, evidently, the oldest alternating current electric and steam plant constructed west of the Mississippi River.

Downtown buildings and many houses in adjacent neighborhoods used steam heat up until the flood of 2008 (and some thru 2010, steam provided by temporary steam system).

Apparently the power plant is too ugly for some people and it must go. Some say that new comers arriving in Cedar Rapids for the first time, driving overhead on interstate 380, are turned off by the look of the place (I doubt that). Some also cite pollution (?) to adjacent Cedar Lake (?).

Alliant Energy owns the lake. Up until some point in the year 1910 the "lake" was a swampy area (most people even in the 1990s and 2000s called the place a "slough", not a lake). It was a company called Electric Light and Power (Alliant's predecessor) who built a dam (1910) to create the slough.

I don't mind the place at all. I'd like it to remain standing. Not that I ever liked the idea of burning coal forever.

Before the 2008 flood it appears that Alliant Energy was reinvesting in the steam power plant and in 2005 they spent $20 million on an upgrade that enabled the place to burn low-sulfur coal.

I recently leaned that the place has been slowly being torn down since 2014 (maybe 2013?, and the interior possibly sometime prior?). I didn't even notice it until I recently looked closely at the place (pictures sent from family which they took March, 2015) and could see a few area of the exterior walls that have been torn off:



In the picture below everything on the right hand side is Quaker Oats (not going anywhere and still very active):



Here are some other angles of the steam power plant:



Apparently when the place is gone they aren't going to rebuild anything on the site. It will just be a green area.

[Lucas Daniel Smith]

More pictures from other angles of the steam power plant:

[bsteadman]

Perhaps Alliant Energy should consider moving to a more suitable location and building a new facility to burn HOUSEHOLD TRASH cleanly rather than coal, which would enable them to continue supplying electric power to the neighboring community, rather than simply demolishing the old plant.

Other cities are using the new 'green' technology, which is a specialty of the company, Covanta, as shown in the following video:

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Resources Recovery Facility Parts 1 & 2

About Covanta Dade Renewable Energy, LLC

The Miami-Dade Resource Recovery Facility began commercial operations in 1982 to serve as a cornerstone for Miami-Dade County Florida's integrated waste management system providing county residents with a renewable source of clean energy. Covanta operates the facility as Covanta Dade Renewable Energy under a long-term contract established 2010. The facility, which is owned by Miami-Dade County, processes 3,000 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) and 1,200 tons of wood waste (trash) per day, generating 77.0 megawatts of renewable electricity—enough to power 45,000 homes. In addition, the facility recovers approximately 2,000 tons of nonferrous (aluminum, tin) and 26,000 tons of ferrous (steel) metals per year from the waste stream for recycling.

Covanta Dade offers Miami-Dade several benefits beyond providing environmentally responsible waste management and renewable power generation. It reclaims and recycles useful products to generate revenue, offsetting disposal costs and keeping disposal fees for county residents stable. It provides desirable employment for a diverse group of approximately 200 local employees and supports local businesses through the purchase of goods and services. Perhaps most importantly, it minimizes the community's reliance on landfills, a direct threat to Florida's sensitive aquifers.

The facility was designated as a Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) STAR by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 2005 and was recertified in 2008. The facility also holds an ISO-14001certification (2003), an environmental management system standard offered by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Link to some additional videos:

http://www.covanta.com/news/Videos.aspx


Safe, Reliable Renewable Energy for Communities

Covanta currently operates over 40 modern Energy-from-Waste (EfW – also known as waste-to-energy) facilities around the world. These facilities safely and securely convert approximately 20 million tons of solid waste into more than 9 million megawatt-hours of clean energy each year. Processing more than five percent of the waste in the United States, our facilities provide a sustainable solution to the solid waste disposal needs of more than 20 million people in communities.

http://www.covanta.com/en/facilities.aspx

[Lucas Daniel Smith]

Bruce, excellent suggestion! I like what I've read in your post (and seen in the embedded video) regarding Covanta and energy-from-waste.

I thoroughly enjoyed the brief tour and discussion of the Resources Recovery Facility in Florida in your embedded video.

Maybe I should write a letter to Alliant regarding the energy-from-waste solution? I may do this (I've been writing a lot of letters nowadays).

They have at least fourteen (14) power plants (coal burning) , the largest ones are on the Mississippi River (because the coal gets shipped up the river on barges from the south), that supply power to all of Iowa.

They also have the Alliant Energy Tower in Cedar Rapids (I think I'll send my letter here):



Thanks again for introducing me to Covanta and energy-from-waste.

[Lucas Daniel Smith]

I just learned today that, according to Wikipedia, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa steam heat system had been operating almost as long as the New York City steam heat system.

New York City steam system: March 3, 1882

Cedar Rapids steam system: October 10, 1892

Source (for New York City Steam System): Wikipedia - New York City steam system


The New York City steam system is a district heating system which takes steam produced by steam generating stations and carries it under the streets of Manhattan to heat, cool, or supply power to high rise buildings and businesses. Some New York businesses and facilities also use the steam for cleaning and disinfection.

The New York Steam Company began providing service in lower Manhattan on March 3, 1882.