Company: BRK-A
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-025210
Chunk: 19

Company: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 19
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 and large industrial plants throughout its 87,000 square mile service territory. AltaLink serves approximately 85% of Alberta’s population. BHE and its subsidiaries, also own interests in independent power projects having approximately 6,100 net megawatts of generation capacity that are in service and under construction in California, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska, Montana, Australia, New York, Arizona, Canada, West Virginia, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa and Hawaii. These independent power projects sell power generated primarily from wind, solar, geothermal and hydro sources under long-term contracts. Additionally, BHE subsidiaries have invested approximately $7.3 billion to-date in wind projects sponsored by third parties, commonly referred to as tax equity investments.

K-8

Regulatory Matters 

The U.S. utilities are subject to comprehensive regulation by various federal, state and local agencies. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) is an independent agency with broad authority to implement provisions of the Federal Power Act, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and other federal statutes. The FERC regulates rates for wholesale sales of electricity; transmission of electricity, including pricing and regional planning for the expansion of transmission systems; electric system reliability; utility holding companies; accounting and records retention; securities issuances; construction and operation of hydroelectric facilities; and other matters. The FERC also has the enforcement authority to assess civil penalties of up to $1.6 million per day per violation of rules, regulations and orders issued under the Federal Power Act. MEC is also subject to regulation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, with respect to its 25% ownership of the Quad Cities Nuclear Station. 

With certain limited exceptions, the U.S. utilities have an exclusive right to serve retail customers within their service territories and, in turn, have an obligation to provide service to those customers. In some jurisdictions, certain classes of customers may choose to purchase all or a portion of their energy from alternative energy suppliers, and in some jurisdictions retail customers can generate all or a portion of their own energy. Historically, state regulatory commissions have established retail electric and natural gas rates on a cost-of-service basis, which are designed to allow a utility the opportunity to recover what each state regulatory commission deems to be the utility’s reasonable costs of providing services, including the opportunity to earn a fair and reasonable return on its investments based on its cost of debt and equity. The retail electric rates of U.S. utilities are generally based on the cost of providing