O’Brien County, Iowa — October is National Energy Awareness Month, and MidAmerican Energy wants people to know how important the wind energy generated in O’Brien County is to them, and to the local economy.
Organizers say that Energy Awareness Month is a national effort to underscore how central energy is to our national prosperity, security, and environmental well-being.
Michael Fehr, on the MidAmerican wind team says MidAmerican has been a leader in wind energy.
He says the environmental and economic benefits are pretty substantial.
Fehr tells us work is almost done on the new O’Brien Wind Farm, which is adjacent to the current Highland Wind Farm.
Fehr says that all of MidAmerican’s energy goes directly into the grid from their turbines, and they do not depend on the Rock Island Clean Line being built.
Fehr says they are very proud of the jobs that their wind projects create in the rural communities the turbines are near, and the millions of dollars of revenue they provide through lease and tax payments, as well as other economic benefits.
There are to be 104 turbines in the O’Brien Wind Farm. He says that translates to 250 megawatts of generation capacity or enough energy to power about 100,000 average Iowa homes.
