Berkshire Hathaway Energy

Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) is an American energy holding company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. The company is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. BHE owns and operates a diverse portfolio of utility and energy businesses, providing electricity and natural gas to more than 5 million customers across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Its subsidiaries include MidAmerican Energy Company, NV Energy, PacifiCorp, and Northern Powergrid, among others, serving regions ranging from the Western and Midwestern U.S. to parts of the U.K. through regulated utility operations and renewable energy initiatives.^[2]

Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company

Formerly	MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (1971-2014)
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Electricity
Founded	1971; 54 years ago (1971)
Headquarters	Des Moines, Iowa , U.S.
Key people	Greg Abel (Chairman) Scott W. Thon (President & CEO)
Revenue	US$25.15 billion (2021)
Operating income	US$2.331 billion (2023)
Net income	US$2.721 billion (2022)
Number of employees	24,000 (2023)
Parent	Berkshire Hathaway
Website	brkenergy.com
Footnotes / references [1][2][3][4]

BHE serves approximately 5.3 million retail customers and has a generating capacity of 29 gigawatts. The company transports 8.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and owns five U.S. interstate natural gas pipeline companies, which operate 21,000 miles of pipeline with a combined design capacity of 21 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.^[2] It is also exploring the production of lithium carbonate and other minerals from its 350-megawatt geothermal power plants located in Lithium Valley near the Salton Sea in California.^[5]

History

The company was formed as a holding company for MidAmerican Energy Company. In 1999, Berkshire acquired a controlling stake.^[6]

David L. Sokol was CEO until early 2008.^[7] He left Berkshire in 2011 after he personally made a $3 million profit from Berkshire Hathaway's purchase of Lubrizol.^[8]

In 2014, the company changed its name from MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company to Berkshire Hathaway Energy.^[9]

In August 2022, Berkshire Hathaway acquired a 1% stake in the company from Greg Abel for $870 million.^[10]

In October 2024, Berkshire Hathaway purchased the remaining 8% stake from the family of Walter Scott Jr. following his death three years prior, bringing the company's ownership to 100%.^[11]

Subsidiaries

Berkshire Hathaway Energy owns the following companies:

• MidAmerican Energy Company
• PacifiCorp - acquired for $9.4 billion in 2005^[12]
• Northern Powergrid (formerly CE Electric UK)
  • Integrated Utility Services UK
  • CalEnergy Resources Ltd.
• BHE Renewables
  • Imperial Valley Geothermal Project
• BHE Pipeline Group
  • Kern River Gas Transmission Company and Kern River Pipeline - acquired in 2006 for $960 million.^[13]
  • Northern Natural Gas Company (Omaha) - acquired from Dynegy in 2002 for $928 million.^[14]
  • BHE Gas Transmissions & Storage - acquired from Dominion Energy in 2020 for $9.7 billion.^[15]
• BYD Company (4.94% interest)^[16]
• NV Energy - electricity and natural gas in most of Nevada
• Metalogic Inspections Services - Oil and Gas, Electricity generation, Fabrication, Pipeline, Services - acquired in 2013 for $5.4 billion.^[17]
• Intelligent Energy Solutions^[18] - Heat pumps, solar panels, and biomass heating systems
• AltaLink - Acquired for C$3.24 billion in 2014.^[19]
• HomeServices of America

In August 2017, BHE's proposed acquisition of Oncor Electric Delivery was terminated after BHE was outbid by Sempra.^[20]

Environmental issues

Through 2023, the company has invested $34.1 billion in renewable energy projects and has ceased coal operations at 18 coal-fired power stations. The company plans to cease coal operations at 15 more stations between 2025 and 2030.^[2]