Signs saying "No more coal" blanketed the path to Alliant Energy's annual shareholders meeting Thursday and a big, black, inflatable version of a coal-fired power plant stood at the entrance to the Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center, where the meeting was held.

More than 100 coal-plant opponents swarmed outside the building, handing out leaflets and chanting, "No more coal" and "Clean energy now."

But the meeting was one of the least contentious in years, with only three people posing questions after the corporate presentation. Only two of them queried chief executive Bill Harvey about Alliant's controversial plans to build coal-fired power plants in Cassville and in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Mark Kresowik was one, reading a letter from the Sievers Family Investment Group, of Tama, Iowa.

"Remove coal-fired plants from your thought patterns. From a financial perspective, they are the riskiest investment we could make, knowing that carbon regulations are coming. They are destroying our reputation and exposing us to litigation," read Kresowik, who is corporate accountability representative with the Sierra Club in Madison.

Another speaker asked the company to get more involved in solar power.

Harvey defended Alliant's plans, calling them balanced. He said Alliant eventually hopes 10 percent of the fuel for the two new coal-fired power plants will come from agricultural products such as corn stalks and waste wood. The Madison utility holding company also is building more wind turbines. And although coal prices are up, natural-gas costs have jumped 80 percent in the past year, he said.

"As everyone in the room knows, whether you're going to the grocery store or the gas station — or paying your utility bill — prices are going up around the planet," Harvey said.

About 375 shareholders attended the event. Most seemed supportive.

"I think they're doing a super job," stockholder Lois Kaster, of Monroe, said after the hourlong meeting. As for the coal issue: "I don't think it's that important," Kaster said.

Shareowner Dan Meyer, of Waunakee, said, "I have to go according to what our leader says. We can't have all our eggs in one basket."

The meeting comes one day after release of a preliminary environmental impact statement by state Department of Natural Resources and Public Service Commission staff. It says the proposed 300-megawatt, coal-fired plant at Cassville "is not the optimal generation choice" and "not the least-cost option under any scenario."

Meeting with reporters after the shareholders meeting, Harvey was asked if he's concerned the PSC will reject the proposal. "Well, of course," he said. "I would prefer that the environmental statement would have said nothing but laudable things about our proposal."

Although some major U.S. investment firms have said they will look for plans to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions when they consider financing coal-fired power plants from now on, Harvey said he's confident there will be no problem getting financing for the Cassville project.