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Warren Buffett-owned company plans to use federal wind subsidies

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Michael Bastasch DCNF Managing Editor
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A subsidiary of the Warren Buffett-owned MidAmerican Energy Holdings is looking to capitalize on federal tax subsidies by installing 448 wind turbines across five Iowa counties in order to generate up to 1,050 megawatts of power by 2015.

Construction on the wind farms is scheduled to begin next month, meaning MidAmerican will qualify for generous wind tax credits offered by the federal government.

“MidAmerican Energy Company does plan to use federal wind production tax credits for the recently announced wind expansion,” a company spokeswoman told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an email. “The specific amount is not available.”

MidAmerican could qualify for $23 per megawatt hour of wind power they produce, which they can take advantage of for the next 10 years.

“We’re excited about that,” said Republican Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad. “This is a huge project, and obviously, it’s a win-win for everybody: for the environment, for the farmers, for the customers and for the people who get jobs in the construction and eventually in overseeing the maintenance of the wind farms.”

The project represents the largest economic development “investment” in state history, according to Branstad, which is expected to create 460 construction jobs over two years and $30 million in estimated payrolls. However, the project will only create 48 permanent jobs.

“According to President Obama’s calculus, the jobs MidAmerican Energy hopes to create with its new taxpayer-funded wind investment are only a ‘blip,'” said Benjamin Cole, spokesman for the American Energy Alliance.

“Even then, the backup coal, nuclear, and natural gas powered generation will have to carry the burden of supplying Iowa residents with always-on, affordable electricity,” Cole added.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, extensions of energy tax benefits will cost more than $10.3 billion over five years and more than $18.1 billion over ten years. The Joint Committee on Taxation reported that a one-year extension of the wind PTC alone would cost $12.1 billion.

“MidAmerica’s so-called ‘investment’ is a smoke screen for the real source of money for these projects, the American taxpayers across the country who are footing the bill for job blips in the wind industry,” Cole said.

MidAmerican has installed more than 1,200 wind turbines in Iowa since 2004, investing more than $4 billion. This recent project puts them on track to owning more than 3,300 megawatts of wind power in the state by the end of 2015.

“The best way to meet our customers’ energy needs is to provide reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible energy through a diversified generation portfolio,” said Bill Fehrman, president of MidAmerican Energy.

Iowa is the largest wind state in terms of percentage of power coming from wind, generating 25 percent of its electricity from wind during 2012.

However, wind only produced 3.46 percent of electricity in the U.S. during 2012, while coal produced 37 percent and natural gas produced 30 percent.

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