Wind Energy Land Leasing in Buena Vista County, Iowa

The Intrepid Wind Farm: operating since 2004, repowered since 2017

MidAmerican Energy Company's Intrepid Wind Farm spans Buena Vista and neighboring Sac County and has been operational since 2004, with 107 turbines and a nameplate capacity reported at roughly 160.5 MW originally, with more recent figures citing about 175.5 MW across the two-county project. This is not a speculative or recently proposed facility -- it's a two-decade-old piece of the local landscape and regional power grid.

Starting in 2017, MidAmerican began repowering the Intrepid project's older General Electric turbines, retrofitting them with newer, more efficient components -- including longer blades -- to extend the turbines' operating life and improve output. If a parcel you're evaluating already sits within or near this project's footprint, confirm the specific turbine locations, any easement or lease terms attached to the parcel, and whether repowering work has affected or will affect turbines near that parcel, directly with MidAmerican Energy.

ALLETE's Alta-area wind farms: an active repowering project through 2027

Separately, ALLETE Clean Energy purchased two wind farms near the city of Alta, in Buena Vista County, in 2014. The company has announced plans to replace 259 existing turbines with 44 new, high-efficiency turbines at these two sites in 2027 -- a substantial repowering that will reduce the total turbine count while likely increasing per-turbine capacity, and will change the physical footprint, spacing, and possibly noise or setback conditions for land near these sites in the years leading up to and through 2027.

A repowering project of this scale typically involves new construction activity, temporary road and access changes, and potentially renegotiated lease terms for participating landowners as older turbines are decommissioned and new ones sited -- sometimes in different exact locations than the turbines they replace. If a parcel is near ALLETE's Alta-area sites, confirm current project timeline and whether it affects that specific parcel directly with ALLETE Clean Energy rather than assuming the existing turbine layout will remain unchanged through 2027.

What to verify before treating wind income as a value driver

• Whether a specific parcel is inside an executed lease or easement area for either the Intrepid Wind Farm (MidAmerican Energy) or the ALLETE Clean Energy Alta-area farms, since only parcels under an actual agreement see direct lease income.
• For a parcel already under lease, the payment structure (signing bonus, per-turbine royalty, or per-acre payment) and whether ALLETE's planned 2027 repowering could relocate or remove a turbine that lease depends on.
• Current construction and access-road plans for ALLETE's 2027 repowering project if a parcel is near the Alta-area sites, given the scale of the turbine swap (259 replaced by 44).
• Buena Vista County Zoning's current setback, noise, and permitting requirements for wind facilities, and how those apply to a repowering project versus new construction.
• Whether nearby transmission infrastructure tied to either project affects easement or right-of-way status on or near a specific parcel, separate from turbine placement itself.