WATERLOO -- Across the United State, opponents of coal-fired energy plants are generating heat of their own. And they're having some success.

For example:

The Environmental Protection Agency recently was blocked from issuing a permit for a proposed plant in Utah without addressing global warming. The move put the fate of a number of proposed coal plants in jeopardy.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin rejected a proposal by Wisconsin Power and Light, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy, to expand Nelson Dewey Generating Station in Cassville, Wis.

On Nov. 20, the Environmental Integrity Project reported that the top 50 most-polluting power plants in the U.S. emitted 20 tons of mercury in 2007. While some coal-fired power plants are reporting reductions in such pollution since 2006, most of the worst 50 plants actually increased mercury emissions through 2007, the most recent period for which data is available, according to Environmental Integrity Project.

Kelley Fuller, spokeswoman for Plains Justice, an opponent of coal power plants based in Vermillion, S.D., reports Iowa has three coal power plant units that are ranked in the top 50 in terms of mercury emitted per gigawatt hour.

Coal has long been a touchy subject. Americans are power-hungry, but subject to the caprices of an oil market largely beyond their control. They live on some of the richest coal reserves in the world, but voters also elected a president who promised a commitment to change the nation's energy infrastructure.

Whether those factors radiate on the Cedar Valley and surrounding regions remains to be seen. For now, however, the 750-megawatt Elk Run Energy Station slated to go up northeast of Waterloo appears to be on track.

Elk Run Energy Associates, an arm of LS Power based in New Jersey, filed an application for the plant in June. The move came not long after the Waterloo City Council -- after collecting input from supporters and opponents of the project -- agreed to annex and rezone property along Newell Road east of John Deere's plant.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is reviewing hundreds of pages included in the application. After that, agency officials will hold hearings on the $1.3 billion project.

Elk Run Energy must show the plant will use the best available technology to control hazardous emissions while utilizing modeling programs to show the exhaust will not cause air quality in the area to deteriorate below acceptable standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"After we receive the required permits -- and specifically the major permits are the Iowa Utilities Board and air-quality permit from the DNR -- once we have those, we're in a position where we can move forward and start construction," said Mark Milburn, project development manager for Elk Run Energy. "That could be the end of next year."

Or longer, he added, if opponents file objections.

"If there's any appeals to the permits, or there's litigation, it could get delayed one or two more years," Milburn said.

LS Energy says the new Elk Run Energy Station will contribute an estimated $3.15 million in taxes annually based on 2006 tax rates. It will be a state-of-the-art facility providing enough electricity to power 650,000 homes, the company adds.

"This new source of electricity will make the area more attractive to new businesses that may choose to relocate in Black Hawk County," the company said in a prepared statement.

That's not all the plant will add to the community, according to opponents.

On Nov. 25, two nonprofit groups representing Iowa doctors and nurses urged the DNR to take stronger steps to protect public health from fine particulate matter. The substance is also known as PM2.5, a hazardous air pollutant found in soot from coal-fired power plants.

A letter to the DNR on behalf of the Iowa chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Iowa Nurses' Association claimed the agency's existing requirements for coal power plants applicants are not only insufficient to protect the public from fine particulate air pollution, they also do not comply with the Clean Air Act.

The letter goes on to request the DNR apply those required stronger standards before issuing draft air permits for the proposed Interstate Power & Light coal power plant in Marshalltown and the Elk Run Energy Station.

"The science continues to unfold about the harmfulness of fine particle pollution," Dr. Maureen McCue of the Iowa chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility wrote in a prepared statement. "We already know that PM2.5 air pollution poses great risks to our most vulnerable citizens -- children, the elderly and people with heart or lung disease."

Pat Hemphill Fuller, speaking on behalf of the Iowa Nurses Association, called on the DNR to "do more to control PM2.5 than it's doing now" before approving any new plants.

The DNR is expected to issue the draft air permit for the Marshalltown coal plant by the end of the year. The permit for LS Power is expected some time in 2009.

Don Shatzer, a member of Community Energy Solutions, which opposes the Elk Run Energy project, said lower-cost alternatives to coal exist.

"The lowest cost alternative is energy efficiency which can only be achieved through education, smart building and restructuring electric rates to encourage efficiency and conservation," Shatzer said.

Costs will come down as the nation focuses on clean-energy sources, such as solar and wind power, Shatzer said.

"Like all new technology, once we commit to alternative renewable energy, cost of production will fall and efficiency of the new technologies will increase," he said.

The conversion might be particularly difficult for Iowa, which is more than 80 percent dependent on coal for its electric needs, compared to the national average of 52 percent, Shatzer said.

"Iowa rate payers are at great risk of exorbitant rate increases due to our lack of electric generation diversity and the certainty of future carbon regulation," he said.

Procuring coal to fire plants is a needless expense in itself, Shatzer said.

"Each year Iowa exports millions of dollars from its economy for the purchase of fossil fuels," he said. "By moving to clean alternative renewable energy, we will not only keep that money in our economy, but also add thousands of good jobs."

Milburn said the Elk Run plant will meet all environmental standards. He also said the company is working on alternative-fuel plants as part of its strategic planning.

For the moment, though, alternative power sources remain stuff of the future, he said.

"When you look at the increasing demand for electricity, it's generally true the demand is increasing and even with renewable performance standards, the increase in supply of renewable energy appears like it cannot keep up with demand," Milburn said.

Contact Jim Offner at (319) 291-1598 or jim.offner@wcfcourier.com.