MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. announced this morning that it has established a new business to support the company’s move into the unregulated renewable-energy market. MidAmerican Renewables LLC will oversee wind, geothermal, solar and hydro projects that produce energy to be sold in the renewables market.

MidAmerican Renewables will be based in Des Moines and will encompass MidAmerican Wind LLC; MidAmerican Geothermal LLC; MidAmerican Solar LLC; MidAmerican Hydro LLC; and project development and commercial management.

The new subsidiary will initially have ownership in 1,258 megawatts of generation capacity, some of which are renewable-energy projects under development that the company recently acquired in Illinios, Arizona and California. Those include the 81-megawatt Bishop Hill II wind project in Henry County, Ill., and two solar projects – the 550-megawatt AC Topaz project in San Luis Obispo County, Calif., and the 290-megawatt Agua Caliente project in Yuma County, Ariz. CalEnergy U.S., a California geothermal subsidiary with 327 megawatts of generation capacity, will also be part of MidAmerican Renewables under MidAmerican Geothermal.

Greg Abel, MidAmerican’s chairman, president and CEO, said the new business welcomes opportunities for growth.

“MidAmerican Renewables is open for business,” Abel said. “We look forward to expanding our wind, geothermal, solar and hydro portfolio, so we can offer energy in the renewables market. We believe the need for renewable energy will continue to grow, and we are excited to be a leader in this area.”

MidAmerican Energy Co. will continue to be responsible for projects in the regulated renewables market in which electricity is sold to MidAmerican customers. MidAmerican Renewables will operate in the unregulated renewables market, which sells electricity via the electric markets, which can be transacted through power purchase agreements, said Tina Potthoff, a spokeswoman.  

Bill Fehrman, president and CEO of MidAmerican Energy Co., has been named president of MidAmerican Renewables; his role at MidAmerican Energy Co. will remain unchanged. MidAmerican Energy Company is a regulated utility, providing electric and natural gas service to customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Tom Budler, MidAmerican Energy Co.’s general manager of wind development, has been promoted to president of MidAmerican Wind. Budler will have responsibility for unregulated wind-powered generation projects, including the 81-megawatt Bishop Hill II project. Adam Wright, Northern Natural Gas Company’s vice president of marketing, has been promoted to vice president of wind development for MidAmerican Energy Co. and succeeds Budler.

Paul Caudill has been named president of MidAmerican Solar, which will be located in Phoenix, Ariz. Caudill will have responsibility for MidAmerican’s recently announced solar projects. Caudill joins MidAmerican Renewables from Phoenix Solar, where he was president and CEO.

Kevin Dodson, MidAmerican Energy Co.’sdirector of environmental programs, compliance and permitting, has been promoted to vice president of project development and commercial management for MidAmerican Renewables. Dodson will serve the entire MidAmerican Renewables organization, with a focus on development and acquisition activitiesJennifer McIvor, senior environmental coordinator for MidAmerican Energy Co., succeeds Dodson as director of environmental programs, compliance and permitting.

CalEnergy U.S. will become part of the MidAmerican Renewables organization, and Steve Larsen, president of CalEnergy U.S., also will be president of MidAmerican Geothermal.

Rob Lasich, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company vice president and general counsel-procurement, has been named vice president and general counsel for MidAmerican Renewables. Bob Garman joins MidAmerican Renewables as assistant general counsel, reporting to Lasich. Garman most recently served as assistant general counsel at Mutual of Omaha Cos. in Omaha, Neb.