(Bloomberg) — MidAmerican Energy Co., a utility unit at
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., expects to complete
the 1,050-megawatt Wind VIII development in Iowa this year after
finishing three of five wind farms in the fourth quarter.
The Wellsburg wind farm in Grundy County was connected to
the grid in December, joining Lundgren in Webster County and
Macksburg in Madison County, which were completed in November.
Vienna II in Marshall County was finished in 2013. Only the 495-megawatt Highland in O’Brien County remains.
“By 2016, we’ll be able to produce enough energy from wind
to meet the equivalent of approximately half of the electricity
needs of our retail customers,” Adam Wright, vice president of
wind generation and development for MidAmerican, said today in a
statement.
The Des Moines, Iowa-based utility, a unit of Berkshire
Hathaway Energy Co., provides electricity to 739,000 customers
and natural gas to about 719,000.
MidAmerican will have invested more than $6 billion in
wind-generation projects by 2016. Wind VIII, composed of 448
turbines, is expected to cost about $1.9 billion.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Justin Doom in New York at
jdoom1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Carlos Caminada, Will Wade