MidAmerican zeroes in on 100% renewable energy. MidAmerican’s already enormous appetite for wind power is only going to grow. The state’s largest utility is in the midst of a $3.6 billion investment that over the next couple of years will erect 1,000 more turbines on top of the 2,020 it already has around the state. When it is done, the Des Moines utility’s share of its energy that comes from renewable sources will catapult from 55 percent to nearly 90 percent. But already, the utility craves more — looking to get 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources such as wind. It would take about $2 billion and 550 turbines more to bring MidAmerican close to 100 percent, said CEO Bill Fehrman, who has led the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary’s march into renewable energy. “It would set a new precedent for the U.S.,” said Daniel Shurey, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “It will require a company that really knows what it’s doing. “It will be challenging for them to provide security of supply, and that’s not something MidAmerican will take lightly.”
Des Moines Register 22nd April 2017 read more »