MidAmerican Energy won a battle Thursday over who will reap more power and profits from Iowa's wind.

The Iowa Utilities Board approved the Des Moines utility's request to build wind farms producing 1,001 megawatts of power. The board rejected arguments that such an expansion would give MidAmerican an advantage over rival wind producers in attracting investors and would slow further wind energy development in Iowa.

The board made its unanimous decision after deliberating all day in closed session, which Chairman Rob Berntsen said was done to protect confidential company information on both sides.

MidAmerican, which is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway of Omaha, hopes to ride the wave of investment in wind energy, revived by an improving economy and stimulus and energy legislation passed by Congress. Iowa is the No. 2 wind energy producer behind Texas, and more projects are in the works.

MidAmerican, Iowa's largest wind energy provider with 1,350 megawatts of capacity, mostly in western Iowa, said Thursday that it didn't know where the new wind farms would be located. At least 400 new turbines would be needed to reach the 1,001-megawatt threshold.

One megawatt can power 300 to 700 homes, depending on weather and the size of the homes.

MidAmerican had freely acknowledged that it didn't need the extra generating capacity to serve its 770,000 residential, commercial and industrial electricity customers concentrated in Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Fort Dodge, Davenport, Iowa City and Waterloo.

But it asked the utility board to approve a regulated rate of return of 12.2 percent so it could move forward to quickly take advantage of tax credits and other subsidies, as well as a surplus of wind turbines.

"The fact that the capacity is not needed immediately doesn't necessarily mean that the wind generating facility isn't needed by Iowa," the board's Berntsen said.

MidAmerican President William Fehrman said: "We're thrilled. We'll have to examine the full written order, but we extremely appreciate the board's decision."

NextEra Energy of Florida had contested MidAmerican's request. Spokesman Steve Stengel called the board's decision a "$2 billion blank check," in reference to speculation about the ultimate cost of MidAmerican's plans.

NextEra is not a regulated utility and could not qualify for such a state-approved rate of return, which utilities use to help raise investor money.

"MidAmerican's Iowa electric customers will now be asked to pay for and subsidize electric power that they don't need and will most likely be sold outside of the state of Iowa," Stengel said.

"While we appreciate the serious deliberations undertaken in this matter, we believe today's decision by the IUB will have a chilling effect on future wind development in this state by companies like NextEra Energy that have already invested significant capital in the energy infrastructure."

NextEra's senior vice president for wind development, Michael O'Sullivan, had suggested at a board hearing in September that if MidAmerican's request was granted, NextEra might shelve expansion plans in Iowa.

"I didn't find that a credible argument," board member Darrell Hanson said after the hearing.

MidAmerican also acknowledged that it sells its surplus electricity in the wholesale markets, revenue from which it uses to help guarantee a fixed rate to its Iowa customers through 2013.

The board addressed the concern about MidAmerican's possible dominance in the wholesale electricity market, where utilities and generators buy and sell electricity, by adding a provision that requires MidAmerican to submit for approval the last 250 megawatts of the 1,001 megawatts to the Iowa Utilities Board.

"If there is a change in the competitive environment, we should be able to take a look at it," said board member Krista Tanner.

The MidAmerican Energy proposal is the largest of 68 projects in Iowa - with a capacity of almost 12,000 megawatts of wind energy - waiting to connect to the power grid. The projects have been submitted to the Midwest Independent System Operator, the consortium of utilities, generators and transmission operators that oversees the electricity transmission grid and wholesale electricity markets over a 13-state network.

MISO officials say that not all of those projects necessarily will be built, but that a lengthy engineering study process is needed for new generation to be hooked to the multistate grid.

Five of those projects - totaling 436 megawatts and located in Dickinson, O'Brien, Hancock and Greene counties - have been submitted since the energy investment tax credits were renewed beginning July 1.

"The extension of the tax credits is a major boost, but I sense that an even bigger factor in getting wind energy back on track has been the pullback from the recession," said Algona attorney Scott Buchanan, who represents landowners in leasing deals.

Al Blum, an Estherville insurance executive who is putting together two wind farms totaling 500 megawatts in Emmett and Dickinson counties, applauded a decision by MISO in September to streamline the application process for interconnections to the grid.

"The interconnections are the big challenge, once the money is raised and the turbines put up," said Blum, who plans to sell most of the electricity from his wind farms in Minnesota.

Why the fight

THE REQUEST: MidAmerican Energy of Des Moines, Iowa's largest wind power generator with 1,300 megawatts of capacity, sought state approval for an additional 1,001 megawatts.

OPPOSED: NextEra Energy of Florida, in second place with 800 megawatts of Iowa wind power generation, contended that the MidAmerican proposal would have a "chilling effect" on wind energy investment in Iowa from outside the state. That's because MidAmerican would have an allowed rate of return, giving it an advantage over NextEra and other nonutilities in attracting investors.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: Utilities normally fight each other behind the scenes. This battle is different, in part, because of climate-change legislation pending before Congress. MidAmerican is vulnerable to any government-mandated efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, since 59 percent of its generated power comes from coal. The bill could also give financial advantages to wind energy providers.

ALSO AT STAKE: President Barack Obama and Midwestern governors have urged that a huge new electricity transmission superhighway be built from the Dakotas through Iowa to carry wind-generated electricity east.