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.
The Eclipse Wind Farm in Adair, Iowa.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergGoogle, 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.