DES MOINES, Iowa – (October 26, 2021) – Helping to mark American Clean Power Week, MidAmerican Energy is taking the final steps to flip the switch at the company’s first utility-scale solar energy project, located in Waterloo.

 

This ushers in a new era for MidAmerican’s renewable portfolio – and for its customers – since the Waterloo solar project and others coming online later this year will expand the company’s renewable energy mix in Iowa.

 

In mid-November, MidAmerican will power-up the 3-megawatt Waterloo solar project, comprised of nearly 10,000 solar panels, northeast of West Airline Highway and Burton Avenue. The array has the capacity to serve nearly 650 average Iowa homes.

 

“As we place more solar projects online over the next few months and years, they will boost the amount of clean, renewable energy we can provide to our customers. And we’re doing it while also keeping our rates here in Iowa affordable – currently the 11^th lowest in the nation,” Mike Fehr, senior vice president of renewable generation and compliance at MidAmerican, said.

 

“We are proud of the progress we’ve made in delivering renewable energy to our customers, but that’s not where the road ends. MidAmerican is striving to reach a net-zero future,” Fehr said. “We will continue to find ways to decarbonize our portfolio in a manner our customers can afford, our regulators will allow and technology advances support.”

 

MidAmerican’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, Fehr noted, include adding renewable generation, investigating additional non-carbon generation technologies such as increasing nuclear generation, advancing transmission infrastructure to expand non-carbon resource generation and access, and exploring energy storage opportunities.

 

MidAmerican adding 61-megawatts of solar in 2021
In addition to the Waterloo solar array, MidAmerican plans to have solar projects online this year, including the 3-MW Hills solar project near Iowa City, 4-MW Neal solar project near Sioux City, 7-MW Franklin solar project in Franklin County, 24-MW Arbor Hill solar project in Adair County and 20-MW at the Holliday Creek solar project in Webster County. The company will add another 80-MW at Holliday Creek next year.

GreenAdvantage program
In 2020, MidAmerican delivered 83.6% of the energy its Iowa customers used from renewable resources, according to the Iowa Utilities Board’s verification of company data. While that has mainly come from wind energy, solar arrays now being built will add to that percentage in the future.

 

Through MidAmerican’s GreenAdvantage program, the company enables all Iowa customers to claim a verified amount of renewable energy at no additional charge, helping customers meet sustainability goals.

 

Last year, MidAmerican helped Iowa lead the nation in the percentage of electricity generated by wind energy, which was nearly 60% statewide, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration.

Renewable energy technicians: two of the top three fastest-growing jobs
With MidAmerican adding utility-scale solar projects this year on top of its expansive and growing wind energy fleet that employs hundreds across Iowa, the company is expanding the state’s workforce in two of the nation’s fastest-growing job fields. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a wind turbine technician is the fastest-growing job in the nation and a solar photovoltaic installer is now third.