Utility officials say that the facility in Clinton, Clinton County, will convert its fuel source from coal to natural gas in the northern spring of 2015.

The move, Alliant said, is expected to reduce the plant’s total nitrogen oxide, particulate, mercury and carbon dioxide emissions and nearly eliminate sulfur dioxide emissions.

It also called the switch an economical way for M L Kapp facility to comply with future environmental regulations while also managing customer costs.

M L Kapp will be the fourth generating facility in its Iowa and Minnesota portfolio to undergo a transition from coal to natural gas.

“We have an excellent team at [the plant],” senior vice president of generation John Larsen said.

“They have a strong record of reliability and they are leaders in safety.

“We’ll use employee retirements, attrition and other employment opportunities within our company to minimize the impacts on our employees following the conversion.”

Through planned and completed fuel-switching, retirements, and the installation of air quality control systems, Alliant said that, fleet-wide, it is working towards cleaner emissions by the end of 2016. Specifically, it said mercury would be reduced by 84% while sulfur dioxide, filterable particulate matter and nitrogen oxide would drop by 72%, 34% and 22%, respectively.