Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel sees energy opportunities for AI data centers

Greg Abel, the man who took the keys to Warren Buffett’s empire on January 1, 2026, just made his clearest bet yet on where Berkshire Hathaway’s next growth chapter lives. It’s not insurance. It’s not railroads. It’s the insatiable electricity appetite of AI data centers. Speaking on September 2, Abel described the surging power demand from AI infrastructure as a “significant opportunity” for Berkshire Hathaway and its energy subsidiary, Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE). In a company famous for patience, that’s about as close to enthusiasm as you’ll hear from the CEO’s chair. The numbers behind the opportunity BHE is already feeling the pull. In 2025, data centers accounted for roughly 8% of the subsidiary’s total load in Iowa. That might sound modest, but Abel projects that AI-related demand could grow by as much as 50% over the next five years. For a utility operation that already generates approximately $3 to $4 billion annually in operating earnings, that kind of load growth is rare. BHE isn’t approaching this as charity work, either. Abel was clear that hyperscalers, the Googles and Microsofts building massive server farms, will need to finance the incremental infrastructure co...