Wind energy companies looking for
lines
Nov 13, 2009 - UPI - DES MOINES, Iowa,
Proposed multistate transmission lines carrying
wind-generated electricity from the Midwest are
a vital next step in U.S. energy efforts, experts
say.
"These days, it is well understood that tapping
the nation's abundant wind resources will require
a robust transmission grid -- one that is much more
robust than our fathers' system that we have today,"
said Susan Tierney, an energy consultant and former
assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy.
Warren Buffet's MidAmerican Energy of Des Moines,
Iowa, says it plans to be a major force in wind
energy, The Des Moines Register reported Friday.
The company already has 1,350 megawatts of wind-generating
capacity in the state.
Iowa is considered to be the logical hub for proposed
new transmission systems from the wind-rich Great
Plains west of the Mississippi River to the more
populous East, the Register said.
MidAmerica Vice President Dean Crist said the next
step for the transmission line plan would be applying
for approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.