MidAmerican will double production of wind power

Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., owner of Iowa's largest utility and of PacifiCorp, won approval from state regulators to more than double production of electricity from wind turbines.

MidAmerican Energy Co. said in a statement this week that it won approval from state regulators to build up to 545 megawatts of new wind turbines, or enough to supply about 200,000 homes.

The first phase will be a 99-megawatt project in west-central Iowa using 66 General Electric Co. turbines that will be completed by the end of this year.

MidAmerican is using wind turbines to comply with an Iowa requirement that utilities in the state have 1,000 megawatts of generating capacity from renewable sources by 2010. The Des Moines, Iowa-based utility operates more wind turbines than any other regulated utility, with 360.5 megawatts of capacity completed last year.

Costs for the new projects weren't disclosed. The costs will be paid by MidAmerican customers at regulated rates, the utility said.