MidAmerican announces wind project expansion
1:30 AM
Posted: Friday, April 20, 2007
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa's largest energy company plans to expand its wind energy capacity in the state, officials said Thursday.
MidAmerican Energy Co. is seeking state approval to add another 540 megawatts of wind energy. It already owns and operates 323 wind turbines at three sites in Iowa with the capacity to generate 459.5 megawatts of electricity.
The sites of the new turbines have not been announced.
Iowa is third in the nation in wind energy generation, behind Texas and California. When MidAmerican completes a 123-megawatt wind project in Pocahontas County later this year, Iowa will have more than 1,000 megawatts of wind energy, MidAmerican officials said.
Gov. Chet Culver said he supports the company's efforts and wants Iowa to have 2,015 megawatts of wind energy by 2015.
"As I've told the Iowa Legislature, we are not the only state working towards energy independence," Culver said in a statement Thursday. "We must maintain the leadership we have worked so hard to develop; we must compete and do so aggressively."
MidAmerican officials said the projects will not affect electricity rates. The Des Moines-based company provides electric service to 714,000 customers and natural gas service to 696,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota.
MidAmerican Energy Co. is seeking state approval to add another 540 megawatts of wind energy. It already owns and operates 323 wind turbines at three sites in Iowa with the capacity to generate 459.5 megawatts of electricity.
The sites of the new turbines have not been announced.
Iowa is third in the nation in wind energy generation, behind Texas and California. When MidAmerican completes a 123-megawatt wind project in Pocahontas County later this year, Iowa will have more than 1,000 megawatts of wind energy, MidAmerican officials said.
Gov. Chet Culver said he supports the company's efforts and wants Iowa to have 2,015 megawatts of wind energy by 2015.
"As I've told the Iowa Legislature, we are not the only state working towards energy independence," Culver said in a statement Thursday. "We must maintain the leadership we have worked so hard to develop; we must compete and do so aggressively."
MidAmerican officials said the projects will not affect electricity rates. The Des Moines-based company provides electric service to 714,000 customers and natural gas service to 696,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
