Iowa Approves New $3.6 Billion Energy Plan

For the past 12 years, Iowa and MidAmerican Energy have worked to achieve their goal of 100% renewable energy across the state. Now, the largest wind energy project in the history of Iowa is underway – this revolutionary project, which will begin in 2017, is called Wind XI.

   “Renewable energy is going to be good for our customers,  the environment, Iowa communities and our economy,” Ashton Hockman, MidAmerican Energy representative, said.

Wind XI, MidAmerican Energy’s eleventh wind project, was initially approved in August 2016. Wind XI will cost $3.6 billion and will feature the construction of approximately 1,000 wind turbines around the state of Iowa. This adds up to 2,000 megawatts of wind generation – enough energy to power 800,000 homes. The wind sites will be placed into service over a three-year period, finishing in 2019. Once the project is complete, MidAmerican Energy hopes to generate energy equal to 85 percent of their annual consumer sales.

“This will put us in striking distance of our vision,” Hockman said. “We will continue to evaluate opportunities to secure the remaining 15 percent needed to realize our 100 percent renewable vision.”

Funding for Wind XI will come from production tax credits, which were approved by Congress last year. By utilizing this method, MidAmerican Energy will not need to impose a customer rate increase.

According to MidAmerican Energy, the benefits of wind energy are clear: unlike coal or natural gas, renewable energy has no fuel costs associated with it. Savings on fuel costs, along with production tax credits, have made wind an economical option. The project will also create construction jobs and permanent jobs in rural communities across the state. Hockman believes the development of additional renewable generation will also put the state of Iowa in a strong position to comply with carbon emissions limits and other regulatory requirements without placing the financial burden of compliance on customers.

“Additional development of renewable resources will spur further growth of the state’s wind and solar industries. It’s the reason we are pursuing such a bold vision,” Hockman said.

Local groups such as NextGen Climate have also worked to support cleaner energy. Mary Liebig ’18, a regular volunteer with NextGen, believes Wind XI will have promising effects.

“My first impressions were pretty positive,” Liebig said. “I am really glad that a state is taking this big of a step towards clean energy and I hope other states can use it as an example. I think this will be a really good opportunity to prove that climate action is [possible].”

According to Hockman, the large scale of Wind XI is the biggest factor that sets the project apart from Iowa’s previous efforts and other projects around the country – making it revolutionary.

“Wind XI has helped to make Iowa a national leader in renewable energy,” Hockman said.

   Liebig also hopes that the largeness of the project will spur an increase in renewable energy sources across the country, and increase its prominence in the political sphere.

“I think the largeness of the project is especially important because it will an example to the rest of the United States,” Liebig said. “I think it should be a larger issue in politics. I definitely think more should be done to support projects like this, and I love seeing it in places like NextGen.”

   Although clean wind energy is expected to increase, Hockman still hopes see a balance between the usage of wind energy and other sources, such as coal and natural gas. Instead of eliminating these kinds of energy, MidAmerican Energy plans on decreasing their overall dependence on these sources.

“While renewable energy is our future, other sources of energy such as coal and natural gas will remain an important part of our energy portfolio,” Hockman said. “Having balance in our generation mix is important because the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. Therefore, we still need other sources of energy, but we have decreased our reliance on fossil-fuel generation and we won’t be building any more fossil-fuel generation going forward.”

Despite the slight changes in the system, Hockman still remains optimistic about the future of Wind XI.

“Wind energy is the right thing to do for our customers, the environment and for Iowa,” Hockman said.