Berkshire utility risks rise as Abel weighs coal, wildfire liabilities and state exits

Berkshire Hathaway’s BRK.A, BRK.B utility portfolio faces rising regulatory, coal and wildfire risks as Greg Abel, Warren Buffett’s successor as chief executive, signals a tougher stance on state mandates and potential exits from some markets. Abel, formerly head of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, said at the company’s May 2026 annual meeting that data centers are driving sharply higher power demand, including possible 50% demand growth in Iowa over five years. He said new data-center load should pay the full incremental cost rather than shifting costs to other customers. The risks are concentrated in Berkshire’s U.S. utilities: PacifiCorp, NV Energy and MidAmerican Energy, which hold about $90 billion of Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s roughly $152 billion in assets. MidAmerican still relies on coal for more than 20% of its fuel mix, while PacifiCorp gets about 35% of generation from coal. PacifiCorp has warned wildfire litigation exposure from 2020 fires in California and Oregon could reach tens of billions of dollars. Berkshire has paid more than $500 million in related settlements.