Latest news with #PacifiCorp
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Utah commission chairman defends approval of Rocky Mountain Power 4.7% rate increase
The chairman of a commission that approves utility rate adjustments across the state says the board only awarded a portion of Rocky Mountain Power's proposed rate increase because some of the company's woes were 'the result of their own actions.' The board allowed the state's largest power provider to collect a revenue increase of $87.2 million, which amounts to a 3.8% to 4.7% increase for the average customer, late last month. Rocky Mountain Power, which initially requested a 30% rate increase before cutting it down to 18%, still has a few days left to request a rehearing before those changes go into effect. The decision largely had to do with an issue with Utahns paying for problems the provider and its parent company have had outside of the state, as well as a failure from the company to provide evidence of benefits with other projects tied to the proposal, said Jerry Fenn, chairman of the Utah Public Service Commission. 'Do we want Rocky Mountain Power to be successful and earn a reasonable rate of return on their investment? Yes, but we also want to protect ratepayers from what we think are unjust and (unreasonable) rate increases,' he said. Fenn defended the board's April 25 decision during a presentation to members of the Utah Legislature's Public Utilities, Energy and Technology Interim Committee on Wednesday. The committee requested an update on the situation, which drew plenty of attention last year, as well as ire from the Utah Legislature. Rocky Mountain Power officials explained that inflation, since its previous rate increase in 2020, has resulted in increased costs to fuel power plants and to purchase wholesale power rates. At the same time, they planned to use increases to help offset rising insurance rates and fund capital investment projects, such as completing a 400-mile transmission line into central Utah. 'We go out and spend money on behalf of customers to make investments to provide an essential service,' Rocky Mountain Power President Dick Garlish told lawmakers last year. Its initial request called for a revenue increase of $667.3 million, or a 30% rate increase spread out between 2025 and 2026. Gov. Spencer Cox and other state leaders were critical of the proposal. The governor called it 'completely unacceptable,' while representatives questioned how massive wildfire settlements made by Rocky Mountain Power's parent company, PacifiCorp, factored into the equation. Rocky Mountain Power also provides energy in Idaho and Wyoming, while PacifiCorp also has dealings in parts of California, Oregon and Washington. The company has paid over $1 billion in various wildfire-related settlements, many of which came from wildfires ignited by power lines in Oregon five years ago. Lawmakers argued that residents shouldn't be forced to pay for issues in other states. Rocky Mountain Power later reduced its revenue request to $393.7 million, which would have been an 18.1% rate increase in 2025 with no subsequent increase in 2026, following the early feedback. The request quickly became one of the more closely followed proposals to end up in front of the Public Service Commission, Fenn said on Wednesday. The board sifted through the arguments from both sides, as well as thousands of written or verbal public comments. Commissioners also held two public hearings on the matter, one of which was held in Cedar City, which is 'unusual' for the board, he pointed out. The board ultimately decided that the 18% request wasn't 'prudent' enough to pass along to the customer. 'At the end of the day, we concluded ... that Rocky Mountain Power's models provided a growth rate that was greater than the growth rate of the economy,' he said. 'We really didn't think you could grow greater than GDP (gross domestic product).' The board also believed it was 'unreasonable' for Utah customers to pay for company issues happening outside of Utah, such as wildfire settlements and capital projects in other states, Fenn added, referencing a class-action lawsuit in Oregon. A jury there found PacifiCorp liable for negligence tied to wildfires in 2020, the Statesman Journal reported in 2023. The company is appealing that ruling. What the commission ultimately approved is expected to result in a monthly increase of $4.31 for the average residential customer, who consumes 700 kilowatt-hours per month, or $3.31 per month for the average multifamily dwelling. Members of the legislative committee lauded the board for how it handled the process. 'I really appreciate you guys sticking up for us,' said Sen. David Hinkins, R-Orangeville. The company still has time to formally request a rehearing, which is required in the appeal process, Fenn said. He expects the request will be filed. He said the request must be filed by Sunday, but Rocky Mountain Power officials say it's Tuesday because of the weekend and the Monday holiday. Jonathan Whitesides, a spokesman for the company, declined to say whether it would request reconsideration, other than that a denied request could spark a judicial review with the Utah Supreme Court. He said earlier this month that the company was still reviewing its options. He added that the company was still 'committed' to wildfire mitigation, despite the lower rate increases. 'It's going to be a challenge, but we're going to continue forward with the projects we've got going on (and) operational practices,' he said on May 6.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tax bill proposal terminating clean energy credits may increase Utahns' energy costs
A solar installation in Emery County, with PacifiCorp's Hunter coal-fired power plant in the background, is pictured on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) After a lengthy hearing that ran overnight and amid orders from President Donald Trump to reduce the national deficit, a U.S. House committee advanced a tax bill that, among many other actions, would phase out clean energy initiatives from the Biden administration that have substantially contributed to energy developments in Utah. The House Ways and Means Committee, the chief tax-writing panel in the House, approved its bill that, bundled with other bills, make up Republicans' 'big, beautiful bill' on Wednesday. With full Congressional approval, the large reconciliation package would establish some Trump priorities, including eliminating the tax on tips, paving the way for a national school choice voucher program, and eliminating major programs from President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, a 2022 federal law that propelled clean energy investments. Environmentalists in the state expressed deep concerns when the proposal was unveiled on Monday that some federal tax credits for clean energy developments, electric vehicles, home energy efficiency upgrades, and manufacturing projects would either be eliminated or phased out early. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Some pointed out that repealing these energy incentives would drive up electricity prices in Utah. According to a study by Rhodium Group, an independent research provider, energy bills would rise between 2.5% and 5.5% in Utah if the tax credits were to be repealed. Another study from Energy Innovation, an energy and climate policy think tank, indicates that the action could increase energy costs for an average Utah household by $20 annually in 2030, and more than $120 a year in 2035. 'Current federal policies, such as clean energy tax credits, grants, loans, and standards accelerate clean energy project deployment and electric vehicle sales in Utah,' Energy Innovation wrote in the report. 'But repealing these policies would force Utah households to pay higher electricity bills because less low-cost clean energy is being built, while fewer EVs on the road would force consumers to spend more on gasoline.' Simultaneously, phasing out the clean energy tax credits would eliminate the prospects of supporting 3,200 jobs annually, and $50 million in local tax revenue by 2032, according to BW Research and the Nature Conservancy. Josh Craft, director of government relations and public affairs at the nonprofit Utah Clean Energy, said in a statement that this proposed budget would make it much harder to bring the necessary clean energy and other efficiency resources to meet Utah's growing needs. 'Clean energy tax credits are critical to harnessing Utah's plentiful solar, geothermal, and energy storage resources this decade,' Craft said. 'The House should revise the final reconciliation bill to maintain robust clean energy tax credits that are workable for Utah businesses and communities.' Republicans voted along party lines to advance the draft to the House floor, including Utah Republican Rep. Blake Moore, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee and praised the bill in a social media post, arguing that it would keep taxes low for families, workers and businesses. 'Today we will advance policies that prevent a major tax hike on hardworking Americans, provide financial relief for families and parents, put American workers first, fuel economic growth, make American companies more competitive, and lower taxes for our farmers,' Moore wrote. However, his nod to the bill didn't sit well among some Utah environmentalists. Rebekah Ashley, Sierra Club Utah's lead organizer on climate and energy described it as 'deeply disappointing' and 'a disservice to Utahns.' The organization lamented the bill's progress in a news release, since the tax credits had propelled some of the state's most important clean energy projects recently, including Fervo's Cape Station, located in Beaver County, which is set to become the largest next-generation geothermal project in the world. The incentives also helped to make possible the Green River Energy Center in Emery County, which is poised to become one the country's largest solar and storage facilities. 'It blocks economic opportunity, puts good-paying jobs out of reach, and makes it harder for families to afford home energy upgrades that lower monthly bills and improve quality of life,' Ashley said in a statement. 'These clean energy tax credits have supported some of Utah's most exciting and forward looking projects, but by voting to rollback these investments, Rep. Moore is turning his back on the clean energy future that Utahns deserve.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Environmentalists argue PacifiCorp's wildfire liability burden is fueled by coal-protecting bills
Coal is stored outside the Hunter coal-fired power plant, operated by PacifiCorp, in Emery County on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) When Berkshire Hathaway bought PacifiCorp — Rocky Mountain Power's parent company — in 2005, stakeholders didn't consider the losses future devastating wildfires in the West would bring. It was a mistake to keep PacifiCorp's structure and not carve it up into the states that comprise the utility, Warren Buffett, CEO and chair of the conglomerate, said during an annual stakeholder meeting last weekend in Omaha. 'There are some problems that can't be solved, and we shouldn't be in the business of taking your money, investor money, and tackling things that we don't know the solution for,' Buffett said, explaining that these risks are often political decisions, since they deal with states or the federal government. 'And if you're in something where you're going to lose, the big thing to do is quit,' he added. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX It's important that the country has a smart energy policy, Buffett said. During historical emergency times, like World War II, there was collaboration between the private and public sector. How does that work in today's democracy? He's uncertain. A group of Utahns, joined by environmental activists from other Western states, attended the meeting to try to speak with stakeholders about the effects of burning fossil fuels — including the proliferation of wildfires. They watched as Buffett's comments unfolded, just days after Utah's Public Service Commission rejected an 18% residential rate increase proposed by Rocky Mountain Power attributed to rising prices of fuel and wildfire liability. 'All of these costs are driven by Rocky Mountain Power's reliance on fossil fuels, which is a majority of its energy mix in Utah,' the Sierra Club wrote in a release, arguing that coal reliance may have been empowered by SB224, which passed the Utah Legislature in 2024 establishing a $1 billion fund to allow the state to self-insure in case of fire events caused by electrical corporations. Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain Power has also indefinitely extended the life of its coal-powered plants in its long-term resource planning. PacifiCorp extends the life of Utah coal-powered plants — indefinitely One of the Utahns attending the meeting was Luis Miranda, senior organizer with Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, who said the organized opposition had a tough goal during the meeting — to ask stakeholders 'to remove climate risk from their portfolio by decarbonizing their grid.' 'Using the opportunity afforded by clean energy, that should resolve a lot of the problems being caused by climate change, which they feel is an unchangeable issue,' he said. Greg Abel, chair of Berkshire Hathaway Energy and named successor of Buffett, however, defended the use of fossil fuels during the meeting, arguing that the company has to follow state policies. While people would like to see coal plants retired, the reality is that the company still needs them to keep the system stable and rates low, Abel said. Wildfires are intensifying and, with them, the insurance risks the company is absorbing. Abel said that the company has learned from its mistakes and it is switching priorities to protect its assets, like de-energizing when a fire is approaching its equipment — which means the lights may not be kept on during these emergencies anymore. One thing is certain, Abel said: 'We can't just become the insurer of last resort, and that we're going to cover any costs and all costs, irrespective of what occurred. And that's a little bit of the situation we're in right now.' This isn't the first time Berkshire Hathaway leaders have questioned the place of private enterprises in public utilities. Buffett has notably suggested he would be interested in selling the utility, saying 'we're not going to throw good money after bad,' when speaking on the conglomerate's demand for protections against liability from the government. PacifiCorp involved in bills in Oregon, western states, limiting utility wildfire liability, damages Now, after a lawsuit over the massive 2020 Oregon wildfires, the company is now asking every legislature where it operates to get a clear definition of its liability. An example, cited by Abel in the past, is Utah's SB224, which also limits the amount of money a person physically injured by a wildfire can sue for to $450,000, and $100,000 for those who aren't physically injured. For Miranda, from the Sierra Club, listening to the meeting left him worried about what could happen for his utility bills as a Rocky Mountain Power customer. Also what could the lasting burning of coal may mean for his community's public health? 'I have to live with those consequences. These folks do not care about our experience, about how much we are paying and about how we're living with the consequences of burning unaffordable, dirty coal,' Miranda said. 'Is this really the company and the incentive structure in which we are going to put our trust on?' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Who is Greg Abel, Warren Buffett's successor at Berkshire Hathaway?
Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett over the weekend announced plans to step down as chief executive starting next year. Greg Abel, the vice chairman of non-insurance operations at Berkshire, received unanimous approval from the board to succeed Buffett, who, after more than half a century, plans to relinquish the top job. Abel will start his tenure as Berkshire's new CEO on Jan. 1, 2026. Buffett's planned successor has held his current position at Berkshire since January 2018 and chairs Berkshire Hathaway Energy, the subsidiary that owns firms such as PacifiCorp, Northern Natural Gas and BHE Renewables. Greg Abel, center, is currently the vice chairman of non-insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway. Abel has a long history in the energy sector, having worked at CalEnergy and later MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company after CalEnergy bought it and assumed its name in the late 1990s. Warren Buffett To Step Down As Ceo Of Berkshire Hathaway By End Of The Year Read On The Fox Business App He joined Berkshire in 1999, when the conglomerate purchased a majority interest in MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. He was president of MidAmerican at the time of that deal and would eventually become CEO of the firm. His first job out of college was at PricewaterhouseCoopers, according to the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, a nonprofit where he holds the role of president. Abel, a Canadian, attended the University of Alberta, obtaining a commerce degree. Business Leaders React To Warren Buffett Stepping Down As Ceo Of Berkshire Hathaway: 'Only G.o.a.t' Prior to recommending Abel to become Berkshire's next CEO, Buffett had made clear on numerous occasions that Abel was his top choice for a successor. Berkshire Hathaway shareholders walk by a video screen at the company's annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 4, 2013. The "Oracle of Omaha" told CNBC in 2021 that Berkshire's directors were "in agreement that if something were to happen to me tonight, it would be Greg who'd take over tomorrow morning." Warren Buffett attends the "Becoming Warren Buffett" World Premiere at The Museum of Modern Art on Jan. 19, 2017 in New York City. Buffett wrote in his 2023 letter to shareholders that Abel "in all respects is ready to be CEO of Berkshire tomorrow." Additionally, more recently, in his 2024 letter, he said it "won't be long before Greg Abel replaces me as CEO and will be writing the annual letters." Buffett Talks Mortality And Philanthropy In Surprise Shareholder Letter Berkshire said Buffett will stay chairman when Abel assumes the CEO job at the start of next year. The conglomerate generated $89.7 billion in total revenues in the first quarter. Berkshire's market capitalization hovered north of $1 trillion as of late Monday morning. Original article source: Who is Greg Abel, Warren Buffett's successor at Berkshire Hathaway?
Reuters
03-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Berkshire's Abel says wildfires prompted new approach to keeping lights on
OMAHA, Nebraska, May 3 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N), opens new tab Vice Chairman Greg Abel said on Saturday that "keeping the lights on" is no longer a priority for the conglomerate's utilities when the threat of wildfires becomes excessive. Abel spoke at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting, as the conglomerate's PacifiCorp utility defends against a slew of litigation over wildfires in Oregon and northern California. Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here. Fire victims have blamed the Portland, Oregon-based utility for failing to shut off power lines during a Labor Day weekend windstorm in 2020, leading to wildfires that burned more than 2,000 structures and more than 500,000 acres. PacifiCorp has lost a handful of "mini-trials" to determine liability. Through the end March, it projected pretax losses of $2.75 billion, and has faced at least $48 billion of claims. The U.S. government and Oregon, meanwhile, have sought to recover more than $900 million from PacifiCorp for natural resources damages and other costs, court records show. "Our employees and their management team have been trained to keep the lights on," Abel said. After the wildfires, "we clearly recognized that we have to de-energize those assets," Abel continued. "It's not around keeping the lights on. It's around protecting the general public and being sure the fire doesn't spread further." Abel was also asked what would happen if a hospital lost power because of a shutoff, and a patient died. He said Berkshire's utilities communicate more to understand the "unusual situations" its customers might face. He nonetheless said "we cannot be an insurer of last resort" for wildfires, and "we just can't be responsible for everything that happens in a state." For his part, Berkshire Chairman and Chief Executive Warren Buffett said "we made some mistakes" in not shielding PacifiCorp as well as it could have from wildfire liability. Berkshire bought the utility for $5.1 billion in 2006. "There are going to be places where publicly held utilities would be very foolish to operate," Buffett said. Other utilities facing wildfire litigation include Southern California Edison (EIX.N), opens new tab over January's wildfires in the Los Angeles area. While PacifiCorp is not involved there, Berkshire on Saturday said the wildfires caused $1.1 billion of first-quarter losses for its insurance businesses. PacifiCorp has worked with legislators in Oregon and neighboring Idaho and Washington on bills that could help shield utilities that have wildfire mitigation plans from litigation over fires attributed to their equipment, according to media reports. Last year, Utah lawmakers allowed large utilities to collect surcharges from customers to establish wildfire funds, and capped liability on some claims. PacifiCorp is a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway.
