Following the major undertaking of bringing Unit 9 online early in the 1980s, Muscatine Power and Water (MPW) remained hard at work updating its infrastructure to meet and exceed customer demands. To reduce sulfur dioxide emissions and comply with the Clean Air Act, set to come into effect in 2000, MPW transitioned all of its generating units off of southern Illinois coal and onto lower sulfur coal from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. Along with making the necessary modifications to the units and coal handling equipment, MPW took the innovative step of purchasing its own sets of railcars in 1994 and 1998 to ensure the coal they needed would arrive on time without interruptions.
Western Coal came at a significant cost savings, but that did not stop MPW from finding even more ways to improve both the economic efficiency and the reliability of the electric utility. By selling many of the byproducts of coal combustion for diverse uses such as drywall, roofing granules, additives for concrete and Portland Cement, snow and ice management, just to name a few, MPW brought in money to help keep rates low from what some plants would have considered waste and prevented it from going into their landfill. Throughout the decade, MPW also worked to convert its transmission system to 13.8 kilovolts (kV) from 4 kV, markedly improving reliability.
The water utility diligently worked throughout the 1990s to keep its water mains in good shape, routinely upgrading older mains to more efficient 12- and 24-inch sizes. In 1999, MPW built its iconic water tower along the Highway 61 Bypass, giving it storage capacity for up to 500,000 gallons of water. Following the completion of a study of the Muscatine Island Aquifer, which provides Muscatine with its potable water, MPW started developing strategies for protecting its water supply from potential contamination from groundwater runoff. It also took pride in knowing that its sound policies for managing the aquifer would allow it to continue providing high quality water to Muscatine residents for many generations to come.
In 1996, MPW took a bold step towards the future. With many Muscatine businesses and residents frustrated with the internet and cable options available to them, business and community leaders approached MPW about the feasibility of starting a municipal telecommunications utility to better meet these needs and to continue providing outstanding services for their customers into the 21st century.
Commissioning an external review, the feasibility study indicated adding a communications utility could prove viable. MPW took the plan to local voters for a referendum in 1997. 94% of voters approved of adding the new utility, a higher margin than either the water or electric utilities received in their respective referenda. The Utility’s board of trustees approved the new utility shortly afterwards.
MPW tapped Sal LoBianco, its engineer who previously worked the Unit 9 construction and was currently managing the engineering department, to lead the development of the telecommunications utility. In 1998, MPW took the first concrete steps towards forming the communications utility, creating a satellite farm outside their newly renovated and expanded administration center that would allow it to serve its first cable television customers in 1999.
With so much internal growth going on, MPW still found ways to help the wider community as well. In preparation for major improvements along the riverfront in the beginning of the 2000s, the Utility gave a grant of $300,000 to help reroute a railroad switch yard from the riverfront to its current location adjacent to Progress Park. MPW also helped light the newly created Muscatine Soccer Complex, as well as Kent-Stein Park.
