Buffett’s Energy Unit Fined for Eagle Deaths at Wind Facilities in Wyoming | By Noah Buhayar | Bloomberg News | December 19, 2014 | www.businessweek.com
PacifiCorp, one of the utilities owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (A:US)’s energy unit, agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle charges that its wind facilities in Wyoming killed eagles and other birds.
The deaths near the Seven Mile Hill and Glenrock/Rolling Hills wind farms violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, according to a statement today from the utility. PacifiCorp said it will pay $400,000 in fines, $200,000 in restitution to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and $1.9 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help protect golden eagles near the facilities.
“PacifiCorp is concerned about the impacts to wildlife from our renewable energy facilities and we have been diligently working with federal and state agencies to protect migratory birds,” Mark Tallman, vice president of renewable resources at PacifiCorp, said in the statement.
Berkshire, run by billionaire Chairman Warren Buffett, has been boosting investments in wind and solar, committing more than $15 billion to renewables in recent years. The projects often earn credits that can be used to reduce the tax liabilities from other operations.
In addition to PacifiCorp, Berkshire’s energy business operates electric grids in the U.K., natural gas pipelines that stretch from the Great Lakes to Texas and power companies in states including Iowa and Nevada.
Berkshire also sells insurance, owns railroad BNSF and operates manufacturers and retailers.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/12/19/berkshire-energy-fined-for-eagle-deaths-at-wyoming-wind-farms/