(BRK.A), (BRK.B)
Two of Berkshire Hathaway’s utilities, PacifiCorp and NV Energy, saved a combined $21.25 million in Q2 2021 through the Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM).
The Western Energy Imbalance Market achieved a new record of $132.7 millionin quarterly benefits (cost savings calculated from the optimization of market and grid efficiencies).
In 2014, Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s PacifiCorp agreed to become the first participant in the Energy Imbalance Market. Berkshire’s NV Energy, which serves 2.4 million customers in Nevada, commenced participation on December 1, 2015.
The Western EIM platform automatically finds and delivers low-cost energy to serve consumers in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Optimizing diverse resources from a large geographic area enables more effective use of carbon-free generation besides reducing costs.
Because of the renewable energy transfers supported by the Western EIM, there was a reduction in the need to curtail renewable energy resources during periods of oversupply. The avoided renewable energy curtailment for the quarter was 109,059 megawatt hours (MWh), resulting in a total of 1,509,114 MWh of avoided renewable energy curtailment since 2014.
In addition to the economic results, the cumulative greenhouse gas emissions reduction from avoided renewable curtailment since 2014 is 645,821 metric tons, which is equivalent to removing more than 135,700 passenger cars from the road for one year.
“During this dynamic period in the evolution of the Western energy landscape, the Western EIM has continued to gain momentum and deliver outstanding results,” said California Independent System Operator (ISO) President and CEO Elliot Mainzer. “As we drive for collaborative solutions to the challenging reliability issues that emerged from last summer and explore new approaches to governance, the ISO will continue working to help our market participants across the West realize even greater economic and environmental value.”
© 2021 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.