Consumers and Community Organizations Protest Berkshire Hathaway Energy for Harming Americans' Health and Finances

DES MOINES, Iowa; LAS VEGAS; RENO, Nev.; SALT LAKE CITY - Today, a coalition of concerned organizations and citizens around the country gathered to protest Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) and its electric utility subsidiaries for harming the health and pocketbooks of customers. In addition to running the dirtiest set of coal plants in the country that harm the health of Americans, BHE has a playbook of anti-consumer practices that impacts the pocketbooks of customers across BHE's service areas.

BHE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the conglomerate led by Warren Buffett. Its energy portfolio consists of for-profit, monopoly utilities, including PacifiCorp, MidAmerican Energy, and NV Energy. Unlike other business ventures that compete for consumer business, Buffett's energy utilities have complete monopolies over their service territories.

Organizations, including Sierra Club, Iowa Environmental Council (IEC), Third Act, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), People's Action Institute, Chispa, Make the Road, Utah Needs Clean Energy, and more, coordinated events at BHE utility offices across Iowa, Nevada, and Utah, criticizing BHE's anti-consumer practices and use of fossil fuels.

"While BHE utilities spend millions of dollars trying to create a shiny image in the states they operate, they are hurting the health and finances of the customers they serve," said Emma Colman, Field Organizer at Sierra Club. "Our coalition is working together to connect the dots between how BHE is using its anti-consumer playbook across multiple states. Make no mistake, policies BHE utilities advocate for are not unique to one state-they are straight from the BHE monopoly playbook."

BHE's continued reliance on coal generation in the Midwest and Western regions contributes to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, negatively impacting public health. In places like Woodbury County, Iowa, where BHE's subsidiary MidAmerican Energy runs two coal plants, the asthma rate ranks the highest of any county in the state.

Along with the harmful effects of fossil fuel pollution, BHE customers have experienced climbing energy bills. Last year in Utah, Rocky Mountain Power (a division of PacifiCorp) proposed a historic 30% rate increase that would cost most customers hundreds of dollars more a year. In the same year, NV Energy attempted to triple customers' base rates in Nevada.

Pictures from events available here.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.