Dive Brief:

• The Iowa Utilities Board has approved MidAmerican Energy's bid to construct a massive, 1,000-turbine, 2,000 MW wind facility a month after the company struck a deal with large customers who had opposed the project, the De Moines Register reports. 
• Wind XI will be sited at multiple locations across Iowa brought into service over the next three years. The first portions of the project will come online next year, though locations are still being finalized.
• Some of the utility's largest customers had initially opposed the project, saying MidAmerican wanted to charge rates that were too high. Following a settlement to reduce the return on investment on Wind XI, the groups dropped their objections to the $3.6 billion plan. 

Dive Insight:

Iowa's approval of Wind XI is the latest example of utilities upping the size of wind installations, and moves MidAmerican a step closer to the company's 100% renewable vision.

The company announced its plan just four months ago. The 2,000 MW of clean energy will be the largest wind project MidAmerican Energy has ever undertaken, and the company points out that it is not asking for an increase in customer rates or financial assistance from the state to pay for it.

The deal struck in July gives MidAmerican an 11% return on equity—less than the 11.5% return the utility sought but higher than the 9.5% rate critics wanted. Large customers who opposed the project included the Iowa Business Energy Coalition, Google, Microsoft and Facebook,

The project is expected to generate more than $1.2 billion in landowner easement and property tax payments over the next 40 years, according to the company. And during construction, it will add thousands of jobs to Iowa’s economy. Once completed, permanent jobs will number in the hundreds, MidAmerican said.

The 2,000 MW project is an example of utilities building larger installations to capture economies of scale, but MidAmerican's Wind XI would not be the largest.

Though it is pushing a decade in development, Power Company of Wyoming's Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project would have a nameplate capacity of 3,000 MW. It would be the largest wind farm in the country but has been tied up for nine years due to a lengthy environmental permitting process. Portions of the project are planned for land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. To manage the delays associated with developing public lands, Obama Administration is planning a new rule aims to help speed the process.