Mortenson Construction to Build its 100th Wind Project

Minneapolis, MN – MidAmerican Energy Company has selected Mortenson Construction to build the 443.9-megawatt Rolling Hills Wind Project in southwestern Iowa, one of the largest wind projects in the nation. MidAmerican Energy, which is No. 1 in the U.S. in ownership of wind-powered electric generation among rate-regulated utilities, selected Mortenson, North America’s leading wind power contractor, to build the Rolling Hills Wind Project. MidAmerican Energy also selected Mortenson to build the 119.6-megawatt Laurel and 29.9-megawatt Pomeroy IV wind projects. The construction of the Rolling Hills Wind Project marks the 100th wind project built by Mortenson’s Renewable Energy Group in North America. 
 
“The Rolling Hills Wind Project is truly a landmark project for Mortenson and the wind industry. Having entered the renewables industry in its infancy, Mortenson is proud to achieve such a significant milestone,” said Tim Maag, a vice president and general manager of Mortenson’s Renewable Energy Groups. “This is our largest wind power project to date, and it is a testimony to the strength of our industry partnerships and the depth of experience our team members bring to wind power construction.”

Together the Rolling Hills, Laurel and Pomeroy IV wind projects span more than 150 square miles over six Iowa counties: Adair, Adams, Calhoun, Cass, Marshall and Pocahontas.

MidAmerican Energy has 1,393 megawatts of owned and contracted wind generation facilities in Iowa. According to the American Wind Energy Association, Iowa ranks second in the nation for total number of installed megawatts of wind power and first in the nation for the percentage of electricity generated by wind power.

The Rolling Hills Wind Project is the 13th wind power facility built by Mortenson in Iowa and the sixth wind project built by Mortenson for MidAmerican Energy.

During construction of the Rolling Hills Wind Project, Mortenson will erect 193, 2.3-megawatt Siemens wind turbines. This is enough electricity to power approximately 190,000 average American homes. Mortenson also will install access roads, underground collection and tower wiring.

Construction will begin this month, and the project will become operational by year-end 2011.

Since entering the renewable energy market in 1995, Mortenson Construction has become a leading builder of wind power facilities in North America having erected over 6,000 wind turbines across the United States and Canada. In addition to wind power, Mortenson’s Renewable Energy Groups also constructs facilities that generate solar power and other renewable resources and is a leading provider of transmission and distribution infrastructure. For more information, visit www.mortenson.com/wind.

MidAmerican Energy Company, Iowa’s largest energy company, provides electric service to 729,000 customers and natural gas service to 709,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota. It is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Information about MidAmerican Energy is available at www.midamericanenergy.com.