MidAmerican Energy Company announced yesterday that they will be constructing two new wind farm projects this summer in Adair County. The projects in Arbor Hill and Orient will include 125 and 150 turbines respectively, with the option to add 100 more in Orient. Both projects are part of the previously announced Wind XI project and bring the total number of farms in Adair County to five.

The 275 turbines will add 550 megawatts of wind generation capacity for MidAmerican Energy customers, enough to power more than 230,000 average Iowa homes. The company anticipates that renewable energy will equate to over 90 percent of its customers’ annual retail electricity usage by 2020.

The 550 megawatts will add an estimated average of $6.6 million in annual county property taxes. The projects will also pay an average of $4.8 million each year in landowner payments and create construction jobs, long-term operations, and maintenance jobs in the county. The projects are scheduled to begin in June.