MidAmerican Energy Plans To Have Mills County Solar Project Up And Running In 2025

Construction of the first solar energy project in Mills County is expected to begin later this year and could be up and running in 2025.

MidAmerican Energy plans to construct the solar project on a rural site in Indian Creek Township, east of the former Nishna Valley / East Mills Elementary School. The company’s application for a conditional use permit was approved by the Mills County Zoning Board Of Adjustment in June.

MidAmerican Energy representative Sarah Houlihan addressed the project with the board of adjustment before the application was approved.  She said the project will be built on a 460-acre parcel of land MidAmerican Energy purchased two years ago. The utility scale solar project will be  a 50-megawatt project, capable of generating electricity for 9,000 Iowa homes.

“MidAmerican is a known leader for renewable energy projects with both solar and wind energy projects across the state of Iowa,” Houlihan said.  “The reason we’re doing the project has a lot to do with load demand. “

Houlihan said many industrial customers demand renewable energy in their electricity.

“We’re seeing a very large increase in that demand over the next couple of years,” she sad. “That’s why we’re looking to place new renewable energy projects into service in the next couple of years – to meet that demand.”

The solar project will be built near existing electrical transmission lines.

Houlihan noted that the project is compatible with agriculture land uses in the area and complies with the Mills County ordinance pertaining to utility scale solar energy projects. She added that any unused acres on the project will continue to be available to the current tenant who farms on the property.

The project’s economic impact will be positive for the county, Houlihan said, in the form of construction jobs and property tax revenue.

Mills County Supervisor Lonnie Mayberry said the project will meet the county’s utility scale solar ordinance requirements, including height, buffering and setbacks. Fellow supervisor Richard Crouch said the biggest complaint he’s heard is from citizens concerned about the project taking away productive farmland.

Mills County resident Tom Honeyman voiced his concerns about the project at a July meeting of the Mills County Board Of Supervisors. Honeyman told supervisors he and others living in the area are opposed to taking away ag land for the industrialization of the U.S. Highway corridor. He suggested the solar project be placed in an industrial park or on government-owned land along the Missouri River.