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 costs themselves. The logic is straightforward: existing residential and commercial customers shouldn’t see their rates climb because a tech giant decided to park a warehouse full of GPUs in their backyard.

A $34 billion capital spending spree

Berkshire Hathaway Energy is already in the middle of a roughly $34 billion capital expenditure program. That’s a staggering figure, larger than the GDP of several small nations, and it signals that the infrastructure buildout was underway well before Abel started talking publicly about AI demand.

The Alphabet connection

Abel’s energy play doesn’t exist in isolation. In June 2026, Berkshire authorized a $10 billion investment in Alphabet, making the Google parent company Berkshire’s third-largest common stock holding. That’s a remarkable move for a firm that, under Buffett, famously avoided technology stocks for decades before its massive Apple position.

Abel was careful to note that Berkshire itself will only adopt AI in ways that complement its existing business framework. Translation: don’t expect Berkshire to pivot into an AI company. But do expect it to profit from companies that are.

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