MidAmerican is building up to 170 wind turbines in Poweshiek County

Source: By Donnelle Eller and Jason Noble, The Des Moines Register • Posted: Wednesday, November 1, 2017

MidAmerican Energy Co. plans to build a new wind farm in Poweshiek County, the third Iowa site selected for the utility’s $3.6 billion wind project that was announced in 2016.

Altogether, MidAmerican plans to build 1,000 wind turbines that will generate 2,000 megawatts of wind generation capacity when it’s completed in December 2019.

The project, called Wind XI, is Iowa’s single largest economic development project.

The company is working with developers, county officials and landowners to find wind farm sites in other Iowa counties for the remaining Wind XI locations.

Construction on those yet-to-be-announced projects will start in 2018 and 2019, MidAmerican said.

The Poweshiek County farm will consist of up to 170 turbines being constructed that will generate 340 megawatts of wind energy.

MidAmerican expects to pay up to $137 million in county property taxes and about $114 million in landowner lease payments over the project’s 40-year lifespan.

Construction in Poweshiek County has begun and is scheduled to be completed in a year.

“The benefits of Wind XI are very clear: clean energy produced right here in Iowa, for Iowa customers, using one of Iowa’s abundant renewable resources,” said Bill Fehrman, MidAmerican’s CEO.