Berkshire Hathaway Energy

Last updated
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company
Formerly
  • California Energy Company, Inc. (1971-1992)
  • CalEnergy Company, Inc. (1992-1999)
  • MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (1999-2014)
Company type Subsidiary
Industry
Founded1971;55 years ago (1971)
Headquarters
Des Moines, Iowa
,
U.S.
Area served
Key people
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$25.92 billion (2024)
Increase2.svg US$4.346 billion (2024)
Increase2.svg US$4.437 billion (2024)
Total assets Increase2.svg US$140.14 billion (2024)
Total equity Increase2.svg US$51.289 billion (2024)
Number of employees
23,800 (2024)
Parent Berkshire Hathaway
Subsidiaries
Website brkenergy.com
Footnotes /references
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

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]

Contents

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. [7]

History

On October 24, 1999, BHE executed an Agreement and Plan of Merger with an investor consortium led by Berkshire Hathaway and comprising Walter Scott, Jr., David L. Sokol, and Gregory E. Abel. The agreement provided for the acquisition of all outstanding common shares of company at $35.05 per share, representing a 29% premium over the previous closing price. The total equity value of the transaction, inclusive of transaction costs, was approximately $2.2 billion. Berkshire Hathaway committed $1.24 billion to acquire common and convertible preferred stock and $455 million to purchase nontransferable trust preferred securities bearing an 11% coupon and maturing on March 14, 2010. Scott, Sokol, and Abel collectively contributed $310 million in cash and securities. The remaining funding was sourced from company's existing cash reserves. The transaction also included the assumption of $7 billion in outstanding debt. Following completion, voting ownership was allocated as follows: Berkshire Hathaway held a 9.7% stake, Scott held 86%, Sokol held 3%, and Abel held 1%. The merger resulted in company becoming a privately held company. Existing management and operational structures were retained. [8] [9] [10]

On May 24, 2005, BHE agreed to acquire PacifiCorp from ScottishPower for $5.1 billion in cash, plus $4.3 billion in assumed debt and preferred stock. ScottishPower had purchased PacifiCorp in 1999 for approximately $10 billion. Under ScottishPower's ownership, PacifiCorp failed to achieve projected revenue growth and reported earnings below expectations, disappointing investors. In November 2004, ScottishPower initiated a review of PacifiCorp, which contributed about half of the parent company's earnings. Following an assessment of capital requirements and regulatory developments, ScottishPower determined divestiture was appropriate. [11] [12]

On March 18, 2006, BHE announced that it had received final regulatory approval to complete its acquisition of PacifiCorp, with the transaction expected to close by March 22. Regulatory approvals were obtained from the six state public utility commissions overseeing PacifiCorp’s service territories, as well as from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice. BHE stated that the regulatory process was completed within ten months of the announcement. BHE also committed to invest approximately $1 billion annually for at least five years to upgrade PacifiCorp’s electricity infrastructure, including transmission systems and emissions reductions at coal-fired plants. [13]

On March 21, 2006, BHE finalized the acquisition of all outstanding common stock of PacifiCorp from PHI, a subsidiary of Scottish Power. This transaction was executed under the terms of a Stock Purchase Agreement dated May 23, 2005, among BHE, ScottishPower, and PHI, as amended on March 21, 2006. The cash purchase price totaled $5,109,500,000. Following the acquisition, BHE held control of approximately 99.76% of PacifiCorp's voting securities, inclusive of preferred stock. Funding for the purchase was derived from BHE's sale of $5.07 billion in BHE common stock to Berkshire Hathaway and $35.5 million in the same stock to other BHE shareholders. [14]

David L. Sokol was CEO until early 2008. [15] He left Berkshire in 2011 after he personally made a $3 million profit from Berkshire Hathaway's purchase of Lubrizol. [16]

In 2014, the company changed its name from MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company to Berkshire Hathaway Energy. [17]

In August 2022, Berkshire Hathaway acquired a 1% stake in the company from Greg Abel for $870 million. [18]

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%. [19]

Subsidiaries

BHE owns the following companies:

In August 2017, BHE's proposed acquisition of Oncor Electric Delivery was terminated after BHE was outbid by Sempra. [28]

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]

References

  1. ↑ "Berkshire Hathaway". Forbes .
  2. 1 2 3 4 "US SEC: Form 10-K Berkshire Hathaway Inc" (PDF). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 25, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Berkshire Hathaway Energy | Company Overview & News". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
  4. ↑ "BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY ENERGY COMPANY 10-K 2024-12-31". United States Securities and Exchange Commission . February 24, 2025. Retrieved January 10, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ Behrens, James (2014). "Schedule G-1.xls - g-1.pdf" (PDF). Public utilities commission . Archived from the original on January 11, 2026. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  6. ↑ "SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION | FORM 10-K". United States Securities and Exchange Commission . 1998-03-31. Archived from the original on 2026-01-20. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  7. ↑ Baker, David R. (November 19, 2020). "California Wants Its Imperial Valley to Be 'Lithium Valley'" . Bloomberg News .
  8. ↑ "Buffett Buys Into Energy Sector - The Washington Post". The Washington Post . 1999-10-26. ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2026-01-20. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  9. ↑ "Berkshire Hathaway and Others Plan to Buy MidAmerican Energy - The New York Times" . The New York Times . Bloomberg News. 1999-10-26. Archived from the original on 2026-01-20. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  10. ↑ "SEC | FORM 10-K | For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2000". United States Securities and Exchange Commission . 2001-03-30. Archived from the original on 2026-01-20. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  11. ↑ Timmons, Heather; Mouawad, Jad (2005-05-25). "Buffett Pays $5.1 Billion for Utility and Promises More Deals (Published 2005)". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2025-07-20. Retrieved 2026-01-17.
  12. ↑ "Buffett buys PacifiCorp for $5.1 billion cash". NBC News. 2005-05-24. Retrieved 2026-01-17.
  13. ↑ "MidAmerican gains approval to finalize PacifiCorp deal". Deseret News . 2006-03-18. Archived from the original on 2026-01-17. Retrieved 2026-01-17.
  14. ↑ "8-K 1 p8k031706.htm PACIFICORP 3-17-06 8-K". www.sec.gov. 2026-03-17. Archived from the original on 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2026-01-17.
  15. ↑ Frye, Andrew; Liu, Betty (August 24, 2010). "Berkshire Hathaway Exec Can't Break Away". The Guardian .
  16. ↑ Rushe, Dominic (April 30, 2011). "Warren Buffett admits 'I made a big mistake' over David Sokol's purchase of Lubrizol shares". The Guardian .
  17. ↑ "Buffett's MidAmerican Energy adopts Berkshire name". Reuters . 30 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "Berkshire CEO-designate Abel sells stake in energy company he led for $870 million". CNBC . 6 August 2022.
  19. ↑ "Warren Buffett Buys Rest of Berkshire Hathaway's Utilities, but Investors Must Guess at the Price". U.S. News & World Report . Associated Press. October 1, 2024.
  20. ↑ Behrens, James (2014). "Schedule G-1.xls - g-1.pdf" (PDF). Public utilities commission . Archived from the original on January 11, 2026. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  21. ↑ "Kern River Pipeline being sold for $960 million". The Bakersfield Californian . February 10, 2006.
  22. ↑ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (July 30, 2002). "Berkshire to Buy a Gas Pipeline From Dynegy" . The New York Times .
  23. ↑ "Dominion Energy Agrees to Sell Gas Transmission, Storage Assets to Berkshire Hathaway Energy-- Strategic Repositioning Toward 'Pure-Play' State-Regulated, Sustainability-Focused Utility Operations". investors.dominionenergy.com. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
  24. ↑ "The latest insider report from "Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited"".
  25. ↑ Sweet, Cassandra (May 29, 2013). "Berkshire Unit to Buy Utility" . The Wall Street Journal .
  26. ↑ "The Powerhouse Six: Berkshire's most profitable non-insurance-businesses" . Omaha Herald . February 25, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Berkshire Hathaway Energy Purchases SNC-Lavalin's Equity in AltaLink" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. May 1, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Berkshire Hathaway Energy Agreement to Acquire Oncor Terminated" (Press release). Business Wire. August 21, 2017.
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