Next Generation Energy

Viking Energy Center

CFU is advancing plans to build a new energy center in Cedar Falls.

Keeps Electric Bills Low

Local energy infrastructure allows CFU to generate electricity instead of purchasing it when market prices are high. This helps shield customers from market volatility and keeps electric bills as low as possible.

Supports Renewable Energy

The Viking Energy Center is designed to ramp up quickly when renewable generation dips, ensuring we can continue to maximize renewable use while maintaining reliable service.

Efficient and Resilient

As our existing facilities age, replacing them with modern, efficient generation allows us to continue delivering the reliable and affordable power our customers expect. The engines to be installed at the Viking Energy Center produce lower emissions than existing plants and are designed to adapt to future fuel technologies.

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What's Happening

We're advancing plans for a new energy center in Cedar Falls.

CFU is advancing plans to build a new energy center in Cedar Falls. The new Viking Energy Center will enable CFU to deliver the next generation of energy - sustainable, reliable and affordable - positioning us for a strong future.

The Viking Energy Center will be located south of Viking Road and east of Union Road in the Industrial Park and will take several years to construct.

Keeps Electric Bills Low

We’re committed to keeping your electric bill low.

Customers benefit from the local generating assets CFU owns. CFU maintains our local Streeter Station power plant, natural gas turbines and solar array. In addition, CFU owns shares of large power plants in Western Iowa. These all allow CFU to reduce the amount of energy we must buy when market prices are extremely high, helping to control utility bill costs for our customers. However, these assets are aging.

As we look to the future, the Viking Energy Center will help us maintain an energy portfolio that provides reliable, affordable energy for our customers.

Supports Renewable Energy

As a public power utility our focus is on providing customers with reliable, affordable and sustainable energy.

Cedar Falls already benefits from a strong supply of renewable energy in our state. In fact, 61% of the energy used in our community comes from renewable sources.

However, renewable energy depends on weather conditions. When the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining, we still need reliable power. The Viking Energy Center is designed to ramp up quickly when renewable generation dips, ensuring we can continue to maximize renewable use while maintaining reliable service.

Energy for the Future

We're planning for energy stability into the future.

Planning for new local generation has been underway for years. As our existing facilities age, replacing them with modern, efficient generation allows us to continue delivering the reliable and affordable power our customers expect.

The new facility will use natural gas-fired reciprocating engines, a technology being adopted by utilities across the country. The engines produce lower emissions than existing plants and are designed to adapt to future fuel technologies. New generation in Cedar Falls will provide energy stability for decades to come.

Next Steps

We're working on the next steps.

At Cedar Falls Utilities, we take a long-term approach to serving our community. From maintaining local generation to investing in renewable energy, our focus has remained the same: reliable, affordable power for the people who live and work here.

That same forward-thinking approach is what is driving the development of the Viking Energy Center, a project designed to meet the community’s energy needs for decades to come. Work to procure the facility’s reciprocating engines has been completed. These highly specialized units are built to our specifications, and manufacturing and delivery will take several years.

Today 61% of the energy produced in the regional power market and distributed in Cedar Falls is generated from renewable resources.

CFU purchases most of the electricity used in Cedar Falls through a regional energy market. The energy generated by nearly all of the wind turbines, solar fields and fossil fuel plants in Iowa flows into that power market daily. Today that energy is largely renewable. The new Viking Energy Center will be equipped to ramp up or down quickly to meet demand and adjust to the renewable energy supply.

In the News

Local Ownership Helps Reduce Electric Bill Costs | February 2026

CFU Customers Benefit from Abundant Renewable Energy Supply in Iowa | August 2025

CFU Advances Plan to Build New Energy Center | July 2025

CFU is Financially Sound and Prepared for the Future | March 2025

CFU Provides Reliable, Affordable and Sustainable Power | January 2025