MidAmerica Energy reports sales decline

(Bloomberg) — MidAmerican Energy Co., the Iowa-based utility owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said financial results are "running slightly behind 2008" on a decline in industrial sales and lower wholesale prices.

Sales to industrial customers this year are 9.8 percent below last year's pace, MidAmerican said today in a public filing. Net income in 2008 rose 5.2 percent to $343 million, the utility said.

MidAmerican said it may issue debt next year to build new wind farms. The company added 623 megawatts of wind turbines last year, driving Iowa past California to become the second-leading producer of wind power in the U.S., behind Texas.

MidAmerican is a unit of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. Power demand is expected to fall 1.3 percent this year at utility Rocky Mountain Power, a unit of MidAmerican's PacifiCorp unit, as bad-debt expense rises 3.2 percent to $6.3 million. Only "critical" staff positions will be filled as the utility works to cut costs, PacifiCorp said. Sales are forecast to rise 2.1 percent next year, the company said.

Rocky Mountain Power sells electricity in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.