LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

It’s Warren Buffett versus Google, Facebook in latest wind-farm debate 

Credit:  It’s Warren Buffett Versus Google, Facebook in Latest Wind-Farm Debate | Google, Facebook and Microsoft are some of the world’s biggest supporters of clean energy. That’s not stopping them from pushing back on a huge wind and solar project. | By Mark Chediak | Bloomberg | June 10, 2022 | www.bloomberg.com ~~

Google, Facebook and Microsoft Corp. – three of the world’s biggest corporate buyers of clean power – are sounding the alarm that a nearly $4 billion, Warren Buffett-backed renewable-energy project proposed in Iowa isn’t necessarily in the best interest of customers, including them.

If approved, it would be the largest complex of wind farms in the entire country when it comes online by the end of 2024, producing enough electricity for more than 700,000 homes. MidAmerican Energy, a utility owned by Buffett conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has asked state regulators to approve terms including a guaranteed 11.25% rate of return before starting construction on a project it says will help in its efforts to trim carbon emissions by 75% compared to 2005 levels.

But the big-name tech giants that operate data centers in the state warn the project, dubbed Wind Prime, could drive up electricity costs. MidAmerican, they say, should consider alternatives.

“We have concerns that the current Wind Prime proposal is not in the energy customers’ best interest,” Corina Standiford, a spokeswoman for Google, said in an e-mail.

The fight is an important one to watch because it demonstrates the increasing influence technology giants have on the energy transition. Tech companies have pushed utilities in other parts of the U.S. to offer more clean energy options as they seek to clean up the sources of power for their energy-intensive operations. And since they buy so much power, the utilities often listen to them.

“The scale that these companies are buying green power at is massive,” said Kyle Harrison, an analyst with BloombergNEF. As technology companies have become bigger and bigger consumers of renewable energy, they’ve also become more sensitive to its cost, he said.

MidAmerican, based in Des Moines, proposed the project in January, laying out a sweeping plan for about 2,000 megawatts of wind power and 50 megawatts of solar generation. The company – which derives about 58% of its power in Iowa from wind and 42% from coal, nuclear and other sources – said Wind Prime is a key piece of the company’s goal to reach net-zero emissions.

Facebook, which also buys large amounts of power to run data centers in Iowa, referred to the proposed project in a joint regulatory filing with Google as an “exceedingly costly, massive increase in generation that MidAmerican has not demonstrated is necessary.”

Last month, Microsoft filed its own petition with the Iowa Utilities Board saying it planned to join the tech-customer coalition.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Microsoft declined to comment beyond their filings.

Of course, the pushback from the tech giants doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t ultimately support it – or buy its power if it comes to fruition. Any multibillion-dollar power-plant project is bound to trigger some back and forth, even heated debate, among customers, environmental and consumer groups and others. Regulators could approve MidAmerican’s proposed terms for the project, call for changes to them or reject it altogether.

Standiford, the Google spokeswoman, said the company is committed to run its Iowa data center – one of the company’s largest – on 100% carbon-free power and supports “new, cost-effective sources” of clean energy.

“We are actively working with regulators and MidAmerican to ensure the right investment for Iowa,” she said.

Source:  It’s Warren Buffett Versus Google, Facebook in Latest Wind-Farm Debate | Google, Facebook and Microsoft are some of the world’s biggest supporters of clean energy. That’s not stopping them from pushing back on a huge wind and solar project. | By Mark Chediak | Bloomberg | June 10, 2022 | www.bloomberg.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon