As part of the expansion plan, MidAmerican will employ about 656 new wind turbines with a total generation capacity of about 1,050MW.
Commenting on the development, MidAmerican Energy president and CEO Bill Fehrman said the proposed wind power expansion will not only strengthen the company’s position in wind generation capacity, but will also enable the reduction of future rates by around $10m annually.
Iowa Lieutenant governor Kim Reynolds said, "MidAmerican Energy has been a long-standing partner with the state of Iowa, and we look forward to working with them on this wind proposal.
"In addition to helping boost our state and local economies, the expansion would create approximately 460 construction jobs over a two-year period and an estimated 48 permanent jobs in our state."
Following the approval of the expansion by the Iowa Utilities Board, MidAmerican Energy will own and operate approximately 3,335MW of wind generation capacity in Iowa by the end of 2015.
The wind expansion is expected to boost the economic development and provide around $360m in additional property tax revenues over the next 30 years.
Currently, the company owns and operates around 2,285MW of wind generation capacity in the state. It installed 1,267 wind turbines in Iowa, which is accounted to be around $4bn.
