Wind generation

On October 1, 2020, we completed our plan to add 1,000 megawatts (MW) of wind production in Iowa, several months ahead of schedule and within budget. This achievement came with the completion of the 130-MW Richland Wind Farm in Sac County, located in west-central Iowa.

The now operational wind farm is among five wind projects across seven counties in the state. Collectively, these projects provide Iowa customers and communities with new renewable energy and are expected to provide power to approximately 430,000 Iowa homes.

We are now the third largest utility owner-operator of regulated wind in the United States. Over a two-day period in March 2020, we generated enough renewable wind energy to meet all of our Iowa customers’ energy needs from our owned and purchased wind power.

We continue on the path toward achieving our new, aspirational goal of eliminating CO2 emissions from the energy we generate by 2050. This goal, along with other plans and stories, are outlined in our Corporate Responsibility Report.

For more information on the Richland Wind Farm, see our news release.

• Wind is a clean source of energy and a key part of our diversified energy mix.
• Wind farms provide a significant economic value to our customers and communities. 
  
  
  • Adding more wind farms creates good-paying construction jobs and benefits supporting industries.
  • Landowners benefit through lease payments and additional roads to access farm fields.
  • Local communities and states benefit from increased tax dollars. 
• Wind has no associated fuel expenses, which helps provide long-term cost stability to customers.
• Wind energy is competitive with other sources of energy. This is largely the result of continued technological advancements. 
  • Improvements in technology have increased the amount of energy each turbine can generate.
  • Turbines and construction costs continue to decrease as the wind market continues to grow.

Owned and operated wind farms

We own and operate wind farms across Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. We also own part of a wind farm in Oklahoma that sells energy to Google.

In October 2020, we completed our plans to construct additional wind generation in Iowa. Learn how these Iowa projects will deliver clean and affordable energy to customers, enhance our environmental stewardship and drive economic growth. 

In October 2020, we also completed our plan to build more wind generation for our Wisconsin customers. Learn more about our Wisconsin project that has been built in Kossuth, County, Iowa.

Learn about developing wind farms and see a video on what it takes to build a wind farm.

Purchased wind energy