Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Looking to Invest in Renewable Energy Projects

Patrick Goodman, the Chief Financial Officer of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., the electric utility owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has announced that the company will looking to invest in renewable energy deals, rather than its traditional target of utility companies.

He explained that; “we believe renewables is the better investment right now,” as a result of high utility valuations.

In January of this year, MidAmerican created a new unit especially to look after its renewable energy investments, which include the $2.4 billion, 550MW Topaz Solar Farm, and the 168 MW Alta Wind VII project.

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According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, MidAmerican has managed to purchase 1.6GW of wind and solar energy projects since December last year, adding to the original 3.3GW of eind and geothermal assets that it already owned.

These investments mean that renewable sources now make up 31% of MidAmerican’s total energy generated; much more than the 19% that was generated back at the end of 2006.

Stefan Linder, an analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance in New York, suggested that other than the high cost of utilities, another factor that might be attracting Buffett to renewable energies is the tax credits that are offered to such projects.

By. Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com