Dive Brief:
- Berkshire Hathway Energy, the just re-branded MidAmerican Energy Holdings renamed to emphasize its membership in the Warren Buffett group of businesses, added to its growing portfolio of utilities and transmission infrastructure with the purchase of AltaLink, which owns half the transmission grid in the Canadian province of Alberta.
- The $2.9 billion purchase from SNC-Lavalin Group, Canada’s biggest engineering and construction company, includes 280 AltaLink substations and 7,500 miles of transmission and is expected to be finalized by the end of 2014.
- The AltaLink purchase by Des Moines-based Berkshire Hathaway Energy, led by CEO and potential Buffet successor Greg Abel, is the latest in a series of acquisitions throughout western North America that most recently includes NV Energy, Nevada’s dominant electricity provider, and PacifiCorp, a major holder of transmission and generation in eastern Washington and three bordering Pacific Northwest states.
Dive Insight:
The rebranding of MidAmerican Energy Holdings suggests the intention by Buffett’s company to bring its 95.3% favorable customer rating to the wider utility identity.
MidAmerican subsidiary MidAmerican Renewables has the second biggest U.S. utility wind energy portfolio and is the owner of the 579 megawatt Solar Star Projects, one of the biggest photovoltaic solar power plants in the world.
AWEA
Look for AltaLink to be the next addition to the Berkshire-driven energy imbalance market, started by the California Independent System Operator and PacifiCorp and just joined by NV Energy, which is designed to share the costs of grid balancing by sharing generation resources.
