Warren Buffett plans to double wind energy, solar power investment

Warren Buffett plans to double Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in wind and solar power in the U.S. to $30 billion, Bloomberg reports from Edison Electric Institute’s annual convention in Las Vegas.

Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway has another $15 billion “ready to go” for renewable energy.

That could have big implications in Iowa, where Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary, MidAmerican Energy, will have pumped about $5.8 billion into wind energy after completing a nearly $2 billion expansion next year.

The latest project will push energy from wind at MidAmerican to 3,335 megawatts – or about 40 percent of the company’s total energy portfolio, Adam Wright, MidAmerican’s vice president of wind generation and development, told local, state and federal leaders at a White House panel on climate change last month in Des Moines.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month proposed that states be required to cut carbon dioxide emissions 30 percent by 2030.

Berkshire has been able to plow so much into renewable energy because it can use tax credits to offset profit at other businesses, Greg Abel, the 52-year-old CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, said in the Bloomberg report.

Units at Buffett’s company include auto insurer Geico, Dairy Queen, Shaw carpet and T-shirt maker Fruit of the Loom.