MidAmerican Energy Co. will bring 73 more wind turbines into service by the end of this year, maintaining its position as the leading owner of wind generation capacity among regulated utilities.

The company announced plans to add 67 turbines in the northeast section of Pottawattamie County near Walnut. The other six will be added to its Pomeroy Wind Project in Pocahontas County.

When these projects are complete, MidAmerican will have 800 wind turbines totaling 1,231.8 megawatts of generation capacity.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, Iowa ranks No. 4 for existing wind power capacity with 1294.79 megawatts currently on line. The state had another 549.1 megawatts under construction as of March 31.

Yesterday, the Iowa Utilities Board approved the settlement agreement between MidAmerican and the Office of Consumer Advocate, which establishes advance ratemaking principles for MidAmerican’s proposed wind-power generation project. The settlement includes an established 11.7 percent rate of return on equity for the portion of the wind project to be included in the Iowa electric rate base, similar to the company’s other projects, a set 20-year period for the company to recover its investment in the project and an overall cost cap for the project, which will not be released until MidAmerican completes negotiations with project developers.

The company also said it will invest approximately $400 million between 2004 and 2009 on upgrades to its coal-fired power plants that will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 44 percent, sulfur dioxide emissions by 38 percent and mercury emissions by 35 percent.