Billionaire Warren Buffett obviously sees something in the wind industry….there’s money to be made!
A report from the American Wind Energy Association shows his Berkshire Hathaway Energy is now the top US ranked investor owned utility group for wind power. The firm surpassed Xcel Energy in 2017 with 6.751 GW owned or under contract.
BHE owned 5.423GW of wind capacity and had 1.328GW under contract at the end of last year edging out long-time leader Xcel, which had a total 6.658GW – 852MW owned and 5.806GW under contract.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy is a division of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate and owns three utilities: PacifiCorp. which serves six western states; MidAmerican Energy Company which is the largest electric power supplier in Iowa; and NV Energy, a big provider in Nevada.
MidAmerican owns more wind capacity than any US utility and is presently constructing a 2GW multi-site project called Wind XI in Iowa. PacifiCorp is seeking regulatory approvals for planned 1.1GW in new wind capacity, mainly in Wyoming. NV Energy, a minor wind player, could add capacity as it is reviewing supply bids for 330MW of new renewables.