Renewables accounted for more than 61 percent of MidAmerican Energy electricity delivered last year

MidAmerican Energy reported this week that its ability to deliver power to Iowa customers last year stemmed largely from renewable sources, attesting that 61.3 percent of its provided electricity could be so attributed.

“We’re making significant inroads in our quest to provide 100% renewable energy annually to our customers,” Adam Wright, MidAmerican Energy president and CEO, said. “We continue to work hard every day on expanding our wind energy infrastructure,” Wright added. “We’re adding wind generation at no net cost to our customers while still providing reliable energy at some of the lowest rates in the country.”

Notably, that figure represented a 19 percent gain from 2018, which came in at 51.4 percent. Fuelling the change was the fact that MidAmerican led the country in wind project installations last year, adding more than 1,000 megawatts of new capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Those efforts also helped wind energy to become the top source of electricity generation in Iowa in 2019.

The company’s customers were provided access to renewably sourced electricity without any additional cost to their bills, as part of the GreenAdvantage program. Likewise, businesses were able to claim the verified percentage of such energy they received as a means of meeting their own sustainability goals.

Total, MidAmerican has invested $11.9 billion into wind energy. In turn, this saw the company pay $26.3 million in property taxes to Iowa’s counties last year and another $30.9 million to rural landowners through lease payments.