MidAmerican Wind Energy

Company Increases Nation-Leading Ownership of Wind Energy Facilities
For more information, contact:
Allan Urlis, Director of Media Relations, at 515-281-2785

DES MOINES, Iowa – (Jan. 30, 2008) – More MidAmerican Energy Company wind turbines are on-line in northwest and north central Iowa.

The company’s Pomeroy Wind Project in Pocahontas County and the Century Project Expansion near Blairsburg in Wright and Hamilton counties have been placed in service. There are 142 wind turbines at the two projects, bringing the total number of the company’s wind turbines in Iowa to 466. When MidAmerican Energy completes its current wind expansion by the end of this year, the company will own 726 wind turbines in Iowa, which helps solidify the company’s No. 1 ranking in the nation in ownership of wind energy generation capacity among regulated utility companies.

The 726 wind turbines will have the capacity to produce approximately 1,124 megawatts of electricity, which is enough electricity to power approximately 390,000 U.S. homes. When MidAmerican Energy’s wind-fueled electric generating capacity is combined with the company’s other noncarbon fuel sources, approximately 25 percent of MidAmerican Energy’s owned electric generating capacity will come from noncarbon resources at the end of 2008.

MidAmerican Energy began building wind projects in 2004 and has made the investment without raising customers’ electric rates. The price of electricity per kilowatt-hour, the electric rate, for MidAmerican customers is lower today than it was in 1995, and the company has committed to keep electric rates stable until at least 2014, which is nearly 20 years without a rate increase. Also, the company does not have any electric rate increases planned for its customers in Illinois or South Dakota.

In addition to the investment MidAmerican Energy is making in noncarbon electric generation, the company also is investing approximately $400 million between 2004 and 2009 on environmental upgrades at its power plants to reduce emissions. When that work is completed, there will be a 44 percent reduction in emissions of nitrogen oxides, a 38 percent reduction in emissions of sulfur dioxide and a 35 percent reduction of mercury emissions from MidAmerican Energy’s coal-fueled power plants.

“MidAmerican Energy exists to provide safe, reliable and affordable electricity to meet our customers’ energy demands, and our objective is to do that in an environmentally conscious manner,” said Bill Fehrman, president of MidAmerican Energy. “Global climate change is a complex issue, and there are many factors over which the company has no control; however, we will continue to take responsible actions that help us do our part to economically move toward a lower-carbon society in our country.”

For more information about wind energy, check out MidAmerican Energy’s virtual wind tour at www.midamericanenergy.com. Select Wind Energy in the Virtual Tours section in the lower left corner of the MidAmerican Energy home page.