The Iowa Utilities Board has given its approval for 591MW Wind XII project of MidAmerican Energy, whose total cost is estimated to be $922m.
Image: MidAmerican Energy gets approval for Wind XII project. Photo: Courtesy of Sergio A/FreeImages.com.
The board stated that MidAmerican Energy has satisfied the conditions in Iowa Code and is hence eligible to move forward with ratemaking principles associated with the project.
In the settlement agreement, the ratemaking principles approved establish a cap of $1.56m per megawatt. This amount includes allowance for funds used during construction (AFUDC). The agreement also provides for allowed return on common equity portion of Wind XII to be included in Iowa electric rate base at 11%.
MidAmerican filed the request with the board in May this year. When the wind project will be completed, the company’s portfolio will grow to up to 6.6GW in renewable energy generation in Iowa, in 2021.
Back in May, when the company submitted its proposal to Iowa Utilities Board, it stated that the project could generate nearly 300 full time jobs during the construction phase and another 28 full time jobs during the operations and maintenance phase.
Furthermore, the project can generate an average of $6.9m per year in additional Iowa Property tax payments on the turbines and nearly $5.6m more in annual payments for the landowner. Last year, MidAmerican Energy paid $19.6m in property taxes on wind turbines in the state.
In May, the company stated that it is exploring wind farm sites in the state and will announce wind farm locations before construction begins at each of the sites.
In July, the company selected Mortenson for the construction of Arbor Hill and Ivester wind farms in Iowa, which have a combined capacity of 341MW. Arbor Hill wind farm has 250MW capacity and the Ivester wind farm has 91MW capacity.
The contracts direct that Mortenson will responsible for access roads, foundations, collection system installation and erection of the turbines. The construction company will also carry out all civil and high voltage work associated with the two new wind farms in Iowa.