Buffett’s Goodbye: Can Berkshire Keep Its Green Spark?

It’s May 3, 2025, in an Omaha arena buzzing like a summer fair. Warren Buffett, the 94-year-old money genius, shocks everyone: he’s quitting as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO by Christmas. The crowd cheers, some cry, and Wall Street panics, with Berkshire’s stock dropping 7% like a popped balloon.

As Buffett, nicknamed the “Oracle of Omaha,” hands the keys to Greg Abel, all eyes turn to Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE). Can this green-energy star keep shining, or will it nap through the clean-energy race?

BHE is a big deal. It makes 30% of its power from wind and solar, powering places like Iowa with $18 billion wind farms. Buffett’s gift for finding bargains—way back in the 1960s, he bought a failing textile mill and built a $1.2 trillion company—shaped BHE.

In 2004, he spent $5.1 billion on MidAmerican Energy, betting on wind power when others laughed it off as “hippie stuff.” Now, that bet makes BHE a green leader. But BHE also uses coal and gas to keep the lights on, like serving a salad with a burger on the side. That mix bugs some eco-fans.

Greg Abel, 62, steps up next. He ran BHE from 2008 to 2018, so he knows green energy. At the shareholder meeting, he promised to spend billions on wind, solar, and better power grids. Sounds great, right? But Abel’s more of a planner than a dreamer. Unlike Buffett, who in 1988 grabbed Coca-Cola stock at a steal, Abel sticks to safe moves. Can he keep up with companies like NextEra Energy, which loves renewables, or Ørsted, a champ in ocean wind farms?

Just when Abel seems like Mr. Careful, rumors fly in Omaha. Word is, he’s eyeing a huge deal: buying part of a battery company that could beat Tesla’s energy storage. If Abel pulls this off, Berkshire could jump from green-energy grandpa to a clean-energy superstar, shocking everyone.

But there’s trouble ahead. BHE still uses coal, which annoys clean-energy fans and reminds people of Buffett’s 1970s support for “trusty” oil during energy shortages. Buffett also warned at the meeting that tariffs could act like a “weapon,” raising prices for BHE’s solar panels and wind parts from other countries.

Abel, less bold than Buffett, might hold tight to Berkshire’s $347 billion cash pile, a giant savings account built over years, instead of chasing risky green ideas. Meanwhile, rivals zoom toward big batteries and carbon cleanup.

Berkshire’s green story, from MidAmerican’s windmills to Abel’s possible battery deal, mixes caution with big dreams. As Buffett waves goodbye, one thing’s clear: even the biggest stars need to keep glowing to stay green.