BUFFETT BOOSTS WIND

Warren Buffett Boosts Wind Power Financials
Tara Dodrill, March 2, 2011 (Yahoo News)

"…MidAmerican utility company, owned by [billionaire Warren] Buffett, may soon be the nation's top wind-based utility company…[It] projects to have 2,909 megawatts of wind generated power fields operating by the end of 2011…[having] invested $5.4 billion…

"According to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, in 2010 MidAmerican installed 40,000 megawatts of wind power in Iowa, where the corporate headquarters are based. The increase in wind powered energy resources makes it the nation's second largest supplier of wind powered energy. Texas is currently the largest…"

Wind is booming in Iowa - and is just getting started. (click to enlarge)

"Buffett's investment of 258 new wind turbines on the company's farm in Iowa may be just the first of many steps for MidAmerican's advancement of alternative power in the United States. The wind turbines are spread across five counties in Iowa and can power more than 200,000 homes. The project is expected to bolster "green" jobs at Siemens plants in both Iowa and Kansas."

Wind's cost remains constant while the natural gas price is crazy volatile, a riskiness smart investors like Buffett won't tolerate. (click to enlarge)

"The Enercon E-126 wind turbine is currently the strongest such alternative energy generator, able to generate 7 megawatts of power. While the turbine showcases the improvements in wind turbine power in the United States, Norwegian ad Spanish companies are already planning to release even stronger wind machines…

"Analysis compiled by the American Wind Energy Association claims that wind power in the United States is now cost competitive with natural gas…closing the fiscal gap which stood in the way of replacing fossil fuel consumption. Power generated from wind turbines has recently been sold as cheaply as six cents per kilowatt-hour. A conflicting report from the government Energy Information Administration states that wind power still commonly costs nearly 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, as opposed to the typical 6.3-cent fee per kilowatt-hour of natural gas."