SALIX, Iowa (AP) - MidAmerican Energy has begun installing $180 million worth of new pollution control systems at its coal power plants in northwest Iowa.
The Sioux City Journal reports (http://bit.ly/ZwffC1 ) the upgrades will allow MidAmerican's power plants to comply with new Environmental Protection Agency rules that take effect in 2015. They will reduce emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide and other particulates.
One of the power plants should be done next fall. The second plant will be done in the spring of 2014.
The work at both power plants will provide a boost to the economy around Sioux City because as many as 350 construction workers will be working on the project at a time.
Des Moines-based MidAmerican is owned by Warren Buffett's Omaha, Neb.,-based Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.