MidAmerican Wind Energy

Walnut Project Expansion Planned

For more information, contact:
Ann Thelen, Director of Media Relations, at 515-281-2785
Mark Reinders, Communications Manager, at 712-277-7866

DES MOINES, Iowa – (Sept. 12, 2008) – Continuing its strong development in wind generation, MidAmerican Energy Company is expanding its Walnut Wind Project in Pottawattamie County.

Earlier this year, MidAmerican announced plans for 67 wind turbines to be built and placed in service by the end of 2008 near Walnut. In recent months, MidAmerican was able to acquire additional wind turbines, allowing the company to expand the project by 35 units.

MidAmerican expects to have the entire Walnut Wind Project – a total of 153 megawatts – on-line by the end of 2008. The development features 102 General Electric 1.5-megawatt turbines.

“We are pleased to be able to move forward with this expansion, which makes good economic sense for Iowa as the state continues to benefit from the pursuit of more renewable generating capacity,” said Bill Fehrman, president of MidAmerican Energy.

With the announced expansion, MidAmerican plans to have 833 wind turbines, totaling 1,284.3 megawatts of generation capacity, on-line at the end of the year. That commitment will help maintain the company’s national ranking as one of leading owners of wind generation capacity among regulated utilities.

Fehrman added, “We appreciate the support of the Iowa Utilities Board, Office of Consumer Advocate, Gov. Chet Culver and other state officials in making this expansion possible. Working together, we have established an energy strategy which focuses on the reliability and diversity of our energy supply, price stability over the long term and environmental responsibility.”

MidAmerican began building wind projects in 2004 and has made the investment without raising customers’ base electric rates. The company has committed to keep base electric rates stable for its customers.

Fehrman noted the Walnut Wind Project is providing a large economic impact for the area during the construction period and beyond. “There are numerous economic benefits on projects like these, including the capital investment by MidAmerican, construction jobs, long-term maintenance jobs, annual lease payments to farmers and long-term property tax revenues,” Fehrman said.

MidAmerican’s other wind projects across Iowa are located near Schaller, Webster City, Carroll, Pomeroy, Charles City and Adair.

In addition to the investment MidAmerican is making in non-carbon electric generating capacity, the company is investing approximately $400 million on environmental upgrades to reduce emissions at its power plants by the end of 2009. When that work is completed, there will be a 44 percent reduction in emissions of nitrogen oxides, and a 38 percent reduction in emissions of sulfur dioxide from MidAmerican’s coal-fueled power plants.