Thank you for the good report on Iowa's wind energy.

At 07:28 AM 01/27/2005, you wrote:
> From this morning's Des Moines Register, FYI:
>
>
>Iowa gets wind of additional electricity
>
>MidAmerican Energy plans 50 more turbines
>
>By FRANK VINLUAN
>REGISTER BUSINESS WRITER
>January 27, 2005
>
>MidAmerican Energy wants to make one of the nation's largest wind energy
>projects even bigger.
>
>The utility plans to add 50 turbines to its Iowa wind farm. The total
>project would have 257 turbines that could power up to 100,000 homes,
>according to a request filed with the Iowa Utilities Board on Wednesday.
>MidAmerican is asking to add more turbines because it has the capacity to do
>it and the extra generation helps meet Gov. Tom Vilsack's renewable energy
>goals, said Tom Budler, wind project manager.
>
>"It's a good fit in our generation portfolio, and we think it's the right
>thing to do," Budler said.
>
>The new turbines will cost $63 million, Budler said. But the addition will
>not affect customer power rates, which will remain the same through 2010
>under MidAmerican's rate agreement with the utilities board.
>MidAmerican's wind project is at two sites. The northwest Iowa site opened
>Dec. 31. The north-central Iowa site is scheduled to be completed by the end
>of September.
>
>The proposed new generation would add 15 turbines to the northwest Iowa site
>and 35 to the north-central Iowa site, for 50 megawatts. That additional
>generation would be completed by the end of the year, Budler said.
>Emmet O'Hanlon , energy associate for the Iowa Public Interest Research
>Group, called the proposed turbines "good news." But he noted that the
>additional generation is small compared with the capacity of the new
>coal-fired power plant MidAmerican is building in Council Bluffs.
>
>"Fifty megawatts is great, but it's a drop in the bucket," he said.
>The Des Moines-based nonprofit group supports the adoption of a 20 percent
>renewable energy standard, which O'Hanlon said would spur utilities to
>pursue renewable energy instead of new coal, natural gas or nuclear
>generation.
>
>Iowa law requires utilities to get 2 percent of their electricity from
>renewable sources. Vilsack has a goal of 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy
>in Iowa by 2010. When MidAmerican's wind project is complete, the utility
>estimates that slightly more than 9 percent of its generation will come from
>renewable sources.
>
>If the utilities board approves the proposal, the entire MidAmerican project
>will have the capacity to generate 360.5 megawatts, which would make it the
>largest wind project in the United States.
>
>The American Wind Energy Association, however, considers MidAmerican's
>project two separate wind farms because of the different sites, spokeswoman
>Kathy Belyeu said.
>
>MidAmerican began construction on the turbines in October, shortly after
>President Bush signed legislation renewing a tax credit for renewable energy
>generation.
>
>Iowa ranks 10th among states in wind energy potential, according to the wind
>association. But by the end of last year, Iowa ranked as high as third among
>states in wind energy production. Bringing the northwest Iowa site into
>operation on Dec. 31 was enough to push Iowa just ahead of Minnesota, Belyeu
>said.
>
>Four-hundred megawatts of new wind energy generation was brought online in
>2004, according to the wind association. The "production tax credit," which
>supports MidAmerican's wind project and others across the nation, will
>expire at the end of the year.
>
>Wind projects have been slowed because of industry uncertainty about the
>credit from year to year, Belyeu said. Turbine construction will slow again
>if the tax credit is not renewed for two years or more.
>
>"It's a matter of making sure the momentum of a big year isn't lost," Belyeu
>said.
>****************
>___________________________________________________
>Lyle Krewson
>6403 Aurora Avenue #3
>Des Moines, IA 50322-2862
>
>[log in to unmask]
>
>515/276-8947 - Ofc/Res
>515/238-7113 - Cel
>___________________________________________________
>
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Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship
e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's
latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent
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