Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 1
Would it be crazy for Berkshire to invest with Microsoft or Alphabet on a data center? And maybe to supply the electricity? Companies with a lot of knowledge about data centers, such as Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, are spending $150B to $200B each in cap ex in 2026, largely on data centers, building maybe 50 to 100 data centers each, and each one needs electricity.
If it does make sense to invest in data centers and/or electricity for data centers, what would be the best approach? A loan, an equity position, other? Berkshire would not have to buy high priced stock, and might be able to structure a deal where Berkshire shares in the profit.
Just a thought.
No. of Recommendations: 0
Berkshire already provides electricity to data centers, such as the 64 data centers in the so-called "data center Haven" in Iowa served by MidAmerican. The renewables electric plants are granted an 11% ROE. Data centers themselves generate up to 30% ROE.
No. of Recommendations: 0
Just a question... Why is it better for BHE to supply electricity to data centers through public utilities such as MidAmerican Energy than to sell electricity directly to the data centers from dedicated power plants? Some companies have their own power plants.
No. of Recommendations: 0
"Some companies have their own power plants."
Such as chlor-alkali and aluminum manufacturers.
No. of Recommendations: 2
“ Berkshire already provides electricity to data centers, such as the 64 data centers in the so-called "data center Haven" in Iowa served by MidAmerican. The renewables electric plants are granted an 11% ROE. Data centers themselves generate up to 30% ROE.”
Too speculative a business for Berkshire. Remember the huge fiber build out in the dotcom era? Level 3 started by Buffett’s buddy and based in Omaha, and Berkshire didn’t jump in, thankfully. I think they’d see this the same way. No way to know who the winners will be, if any. The tech might go obsolete quickly, or be surplus to requirements.
No. of Recommendations: 0
Amazon is suing PacificCorp in Oregon as PC has not connected expansions at four Amazon data centers in Eastern Oregon.
BHE is probably very tactical about where it can and cannot economically connect data centers to power.
No. of Recommendations: 0
Amazon is suing PacificCorp in Oregon as PC has not connected expansions at four Amazon data centers in Eastern Oregon.
This sentence seems like a great basis for a screed about US Energy policy.
We won WWII by building airplanes and ships faster than the enemies could shoot them down and sink them.
Who will win AI?
China has about 2X the energy production capacity as the US. In the last 4 years, China has added more capacity than the US currently has. In 2025 the US added 53 GW of generation while the Chinese added 543 GW in 2025.
Have you seen the way they drive in China? They are obviously smarter than us.
R:)
No. of Recommendations: 4
Agreed that China has a more dynamic energy policy than the US currently.
However, I would caution that had you looked at US electrical demand in 2019, you would have seen all utility analysts saying that demand would continue to creep up at about 1-1.5% per annum through 2030. Meanwhile, electrical demand in China, especially in rural areas was growing like 30-50% per annum and the Chinese central planners were in an electrical growth environment.
So what we are dealing with now - given the reset to electrical growth demand - a huge demand shock to a system that really hasn't grown much for years and years.
The bright side to all this is that I believe it is easier to decarbonize the electrical grid in a growth environment than it is in a no growth environment.
