Iowa’s largest utility company, MidAmerican Energy is joining a group called the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator or MISO . MidAmerican spokesperson, Ann Thelen says the move allows the company to share with other companies.

Thelen says the company will continue to construct, own and operate its own electric plants and control center, but this membership will allow them bring benefits to customers with broader access to buying and selling electricity across more markets. Thelen says MidAmerican will be able to buy energy from the group, or offer it up to others.

She says MidAmerican can offer to sell its excess energy to other midwest markets. Thelen says customers won’t really notice anything different. Thelen says they won’t call for any electric rate increases because of this, it will just broaden their ability to market the electricity they generate. Thelen says the company should be a part of the group by this fall.

She says pending regulatory approval, MidAmerican will become part of MISO on September first. MidAmerican Energy is headquartered in Des Moines and provides service to over 722,000 electric customers from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois.