Consumer, Local News
More wind energy coming to Iowa
Posted on Nov 06, 2009 by admin.
Two wind turbines stand near a traditional windmill on a farm near Mount Carmel. (AP)
More wind power is coming to Iowa.
The Iowa Utilities Board has approved MidAmerican Energy’s plans to build wind farms producing 1,001 megawatts of power. Regulators on Thursday rejected arguments that the expansion would give the Des Moines utility an advantage over rival companies.
MidAmerican is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway of Omaha, Neb., and is Iowa’s largest wind energy provider with 1,350 megawatts of capacity.
The company says it doesn’t know where the new wind farms will be located.
At least 400 new turbines would be needed to reach the 1,001-megawatt threshold. One megawatt can power 300 to 700 homes.
Iowa is the No. 2 wind energy producer behind Texas.
Good decision, I hope Mid America build's some wind farms near Cedar Rapids and Alliant gets with the wind power industry .
If I am not mistaken this was told was gonna happen when the company was built out on the SW side of town,but later retracted.But it is nice to see them doing it this time,with all the green house effects going on it's badly needed.Now the question is will they buy them locally or go elsewhere to buy the generators?In South Dakota they have either bought the land from the farmers or lease it from them to build on and maintain them.Sure the initial cost is going to be high but from what I am understanding they will pay for themselves quite fast.If they follow through this time I'm sure it'll be a feather in their hat,way to go.
Are the Washington politicians visiting again.
But wind power is good, a little noisy, but good…
Love that headline! When does Harkin arrive?
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Good job Iowa! When I drove up to Minnesota, I was amazed by the number of wind turbines that are in north central Iowa. They are pretty cool to see and I think it adds a lot to the otherwise boring landscape.
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I know of some wind turbine farms in Iowa already and mostly running. There's one near Charles City on it's west side of town. One on both sides of I-35 in Worth County. One on both sides of I-35 in Hamilton County. One in Story county east of Nevada. And one under construction in Franklin County between Iowa Falls and Hampton, slated to be turned on in late December. This is owned by Alliant. Any others I missed?
There is a decent sized wind-farm on Hwy 20, west of Early. Been up and running for a few years now. Starting to see them pop up off I-80 west of DesMoines as well.