Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) ❤
No. of Recommendations: 9
"When the dust settles, America’s power needs and the consequent capital expenditure will be staggering. I did not anticipate or even consider the adverse developments in regulatory returns and, along with Berkshire’s two partners at BHE, I made a costly mistake in not doing so."
No. of Recommendations: 3
He is talking to the regulators not the shareholders
Keep pushing it or watch your electricity prices skyrocket
No. of Recommendations: 7
PacificCorp can't raise rates with approval from the Oregon and California PUC.
His message isn't rate are going up but that he'll bankrupt the utility before footing the bill for burying high-voltage transmission.
PacificCorp wants to be able to pass on the cost of wilfire hardening of the grid and transmission network to rate payers.
No. of Recommendations: 1
I too was interested to read about the problems at BHE. I had been expecting BHE to be an engine of significant earnings at BRK for many years to come, along with railroads and insurance. Good to see the insurance profits come back, and it sounds like the outlook is OK for the railroads. I hope the comments about BHE and its possible reluctance to invest more (or go out of business?) are for public consumption as some here have suggested.
Every year it seems some part of BRK lags and another part does well, but this is supposed to be Greg Abel's particular area of expertise, isn't it? I will very much want to hear what he says about this at the annual meeting.
Does anybody know anything about Scott Thon, current CEO of BHE?
abromber
No. of Recommendations: 6
...BHE and its possible reluctance to invest more (or go out of business?) are for public consumption as some here have suggested.
Every year it seems some part of BRK lags and another part does well, but this is supposed to be Greg Abel's particular area of expertise, isn't it? I will very much want to hear what he says about this at the annual meeting.
Does anybody know anything about Scott Thon, current CEO of BHE?
I wouldn't worry about BHE "going out of business" - I think the comment was about the possibility of a single subsidiary of BHE going through bankruptcy - which I think is unlikely and of course would be a restructuring not "going out of business."
On Scott Thon, all I know is that he came from Altalink, the Canadian transmission subsidiary. He ran that company as CEO for a long time and I'm sure Greg knows what he is doing when it comes to appointing a CEO of BHE.
No. of Recommendations: 7
I wouldn't worry about BHE "going out of business" - I think the comment was about the possibility of a single subsidiary of BHE going through bankruptcy - which I think is unlikely and of course would be a restructuring not "going out of business."
I really wish I understood this situation better.
I read it as suggesting that management was worried that burying electrical lines would be mandated, but in a way that the cost would not be allowed to count as adding to the regulated asset base. And the notion that Berkshire would, in that situation, simply say "no", as it would be confiscatory.
Jim
