By SCOTT PATTERSON
Adair, Iowa
Warren Buffett's blockbuster deal this past week for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. was based partly on the view that railroads are more efficient than trucks when energy prices are high.
But another company in Mr. Buffett's portfolio, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., also is making a "green" bet, building windmills and investing in high-tech batteries in one of the most significant pushes by a regulated utility in clean energy.
Dozens of state-of-the-art windmills that tower over rolling corn and soybean fields in this Iowa town are part of a MidAmerican wind project that generates enough electricity to power more than 50,000 homes.
It is one of several wind projects launched since 2004 by MidAmerican, of Des Moines, for billions of dollars. Iowa has become second in the nation in wind-energy capacity, behind Texas, due in part to MidAmerican.
On Thursday, just days after Mr. Buffett's deal for Burlington Northern, an Iowa utility board approved a new, roughly $2 billion wind project that will nearly double MidAmerican's wind capacity in the state, adding between 400 and 600 turbines. MidAmerican also owns wind farms in the Northwest.
Read more: ttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB125755485686735097.html
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