Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utilities Project Intervenor Request topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents urge Benton County to seek intervenor status in Iowa Utilities Commission power plant docket
Summary
Members of the Save Morgan Valley group asked the Benton County Board of Supervisors to direct the county attorney to seek intervenor (party) status in Iowa Utilities Commission Docket GCU‑2026‑0002, arguing county zoning concerns cannot by themselves stop a commission certificate and that party status is needed to place the county on the record.
Jon Lee, representing the group Save Morgan Valley, told the Benton County Board of Supervisors on June 16 that the county should pursue formal party (intervenor) status in Iowa Utilities Commission Docket GCU‑2026‑0002 related to a proposed power plant.
Lee said that under Iowa Code chapter 476A the Iowa Utilities Commission, not counties, issues final certificates for facilities of that scale and that a facility’s failure to meet county zoning does not prevent the commission from granting a certificate. He urged the board to ask the county attorney to file for intervenor status so Benton County can preserve the record and retain the right to appeal; he also suggested the county consider drafting an ordinance modeled on Linn County’s.
Board members and county legal staff heard the request. The minutes state that "the Board all three agreed that they are opposed and would discuss with the attorney’s office how they could pursue more whether as a joint board or individually." Derek Marsh, assistant county attorney, was present during the discussion. No formal motion directing the county attorney to file was recorded in the minutes.
Auditor Hayley Rippel also briefly raised House File 2490 and the county’s public‑notice obligations, saying that meeting notices will need to be available 24 hours a day effective July 1 and that an indoor courthouse bulletin board may no longer suffice; she said the issue will appear on next week’s agenda and that the county may need an outdoor display.
The meeting record shows residents asked the county to take steps to be an active party in the IUC docket, but it does not record any formal decision to direct the county attorney to file for intervenor status.
