Decorah City Council approves lease with Alliant Energy for new battery storage site

The Decorah City Council has unanimously approved a lease agreement with Alliant Energy for the placement of an electric battery storage facility in the Vennehjem Park.

Alliant Strategic Project Manager Rick Zimmerman told the city council Tuesday night that the facility would have a $3 million price tag and will serve as a pilot project for future similar projects in the Alliant Energy service area.  The facility would provide up to 300 kilowatts of solar-generated electricity, extending the solar energy capacity in Decorah.

The city council received a letter from neighboring farmers who are worried about the possibility of stray voltage from the battery storage facility.  Zimmerman told the city council that correct grounding of the facility would eliminate stray voltage.  If any stray voltage occurred, he said, it would be because of a grounding issue--and Alliant would want to correct that problem immediately so the facility could go back into operation.

Decorah City Administrator Chad Bird read aloud language in the lease agreement with Alliant which would give the city the ability to cancel the lease for the property in the case of problems.