WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
Horizon Wind Energy is committed to building not only the highest quality wind energy projects but also strong working relationships with utilities. Whether we enter into power purchase agreements (PPA's) through a bidding process or through a bilateral negotiation, we work hard to earn and maintain the trust of our customers.

FACILITIES THAT FIT THE LANDSCAPE
For the Top of Iowa Wind Farm in Worth County, Iowa, Horizon wanted to build a project that was exceptionally friendly to the local community and that allowed our main customer, Alliant Energy, to benefit from the project's high visibility. Horizon decided that instead of building a steel pre-fabricated building, we would buy an old barn from a local farmer, move it, and update it for use as an operations and maintenance facility. Today all of the Top of Iowa's operations are run from this beautifully restored barn, which combines a hayloft converted into a viewing area and housing for a state-of-the-art SCADA system with a beautiful example of a traditional Midwestern barn. The NEG Micon SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) allows the Horizon team to monitor each turbine from one central location and assess individual turbine data and overall data for the entire wind farm.

GREEN POWER MARKETING EXPERIENCE
At Horizon, we sit down with potential utility customers to understand their needs and  then try to make our projects fit those needs. Once we have a good sense of customer interest, we work carefully to optimize our project while meeting customer goals.

When Horizon and our Top of Iowa Wind Farm partner Midwest Renewable learned that one of our target customers was interested in purchasing only half of the output from the project then in development, we worked quickly to put together a pioneering structure to fit Alliant's needs. After a careful study of the market, Horizon struck a deal with Alliant: under the power purchase agreement, Alliant purchases half of the energy as green energy and the other half as energy only. Horizon then structured a transaction in which We Energy purchases the green credits associated with the energy only. This power sales structure allowed us not only to meet two different customers' needs, but also to build a project of sufficient scale and scope that we were able to deliver low-cost solutions to both customers. Top of Iowa then sells the remaining green credits to other parties interested in supporting green energy marketing programs and fulfilling other green power needs.