MidAmerican announces two sites for wind facility

MidAmerican Energy has announced the site for a planned new wind-generating facility — and it’s two locations. Project manager Tom Budler says the 323-million-dollar project will be located at two sites, near Blairsburg and at Schaller just southwest of Storm Lake. He says having two different sites gives a diversity of a wind resource — when it’s calm at one spot it may be blowing at another — but also “generation dispatch diversity,” good access to electrical transmission systems. The company expects to create about 250 construction jobs, and 20 or so operating jobs at the windfarm sites, in addition to ongoing lease payments that’ll go to landowners. Iowa’s number-four in the nation today, and Budler says with all the windfarms now in place people are aware of their value so the new project has been well received. MidAmerican spokesman Allen Urlis adds that the creation of the newest windfarm is part of an agreement that holds customer energy rates steady for fifteen years. Urliss says as part of the agreement with state regulators there’s an understanding that rates will remain the same for Iowa custonmers through the year 2010. Construction has already started on the northwest Iowa site, and should begin this week at the north-central Blairsburg location.