Iowa’s Wind Power Boom

Iowa is a national leader when it comes to satisfying electric
demand with renewable energy and it is poised so get greener. In
this episode of Grid Talk, host Marty Rosenberg talks with Mike
Fehr who is Senior Vice President of Renewable Generation and
Compliance at MidAmerican Energy. The company serves customers in
Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska. In Iowa, 60 percent of
electric needs are generated with wind. 


Fehr talks about what it will take to get to 100% renewable
generation.


“I think it’s going to be really exciting to see all of these
different technologies that are really pretty early, kind of in
their infancy, competing to fill in that gap that’s created when
you get too reliant on just renewables,” said Fehr. 


“Which of those technologies are stepping up and really being
able to be the economic solution to ensure reliability in a grid
that has more and more intermittent generation?”


Transmission will also have to evolve. 


“I think the transmission grid itself is going to have to become
more robust so I think we’ll really see large investments in
transmission. If it’s windy in one part of the energy market and
not very windy in another part of the market, you can get a more
stable level of production within the market even from just the
intermittent generation.”


Mike Fehr has been with the Berkshire Hathaway Energy family of
businesses since 2010. He is responsible for the operations of
MidAmerican’s growing renewable generation fleet, which currently
includes more than 3,000 wind turbines, as well as maximizing the
output of renewable generation and developing long-term
operations plans for the future. 


Mr. Fehr earned bachelor’s degrees in animal science and
mechanical engineering from Iowa State University and a Master of
Business Administration degree from the University of Kansas.