No. of Recommendations: 11
I thought it was interesting that Warren said one of their mistakes was not carving the company up into 6 or 7 independent companies for the different States they operate in (Pacific Power serves Oregon, Washington and California, while Rocky Mountain Power serves Utah, Wyoming and Idaho). The more bulkheads and bankruptcy fire-breaks (no pun intended) the better, it turned out.
I don't think PacifiCorp will be divested, but I'm sure once a majority of the current liabilities are fully settled / adjudicated and paid out it would be possible to sell the subsidiary. Regulators may be harsh in approving any new owner, because customers and communities will almost surely be worse off without the Berkshire Hathaway halo (borrowing costs, capital availability, long term mindset, lack of dividends, lack of public shareholders, etc...)
I think Warren is genuinely disappointed in how PacifiCorp is being treated in certain states and is sending a loud and clear message. You don't want us to leave and we won't stay like this.
There have already been reductions in planned investments (and increases in investments in fire mitigation).
PacifiCorp will be de-energizing their lines fairly often. I would love to own a few dominant local Generac installers. Battery backups like the power wall and their competitors should also sell well...
This PDF link (downloads the file, heads up) is great for keeping up with Berkshire Hathaway Energy. They publish a powerpoint presentation for their fixed income investors conference every year. This is the 2025 presentation. I'm sure I've linked it before:
https://www.brkenergy.com/content/published/api/v1... 