But Mr. Sokol and other MidAmerican managers drove a hard bargain, rejecting the offer.
Burlington is a rail road and MidAmerican owns a utility that relies heavily on coal.
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MidAmerican Energy also owns the 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farms built by First Solar in San Luis County, Calif.
The mine is run by a subsidiary of Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.
The purchase placed MidAmerican as the fourth largest shareholder in the company.
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Mr. Sokol entered Mr. Buffett's world when MidAmerican shares tumbled after several geothermal projects in Indonesia were delayed amid the Asian currency crisis.
MidAmerican Energy is the operator of a 1600 megawatt four unit coal-fired power plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa, commonly known as Walter Scott, Jr.
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For its part, MidAmerican has become a leading wind energy producer.
For example, revenue from railroads (BNSF), energy and utilities (MidAmerican Energy) are up 5.4% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period a year ago.
Berkshire already has a stake in MidAmerican Energy Holdings , which "delivers our largest stream of non-insurance earnings" and will soon carry 8% of the natural gas in the U.S., he disclosed in this year's annual report.
For a role model Doyle cites Warren Buffett , who has put his Berkshire Hathaway (nyse: BRK.A - news - people ) heavily into the energy sector--MidAmerican Energy Holdings provides Berkshire's largest source of noninsurance revenue.
Mr. Nicely of Geico comes next ("stellar, " as the 2005 letter put it), followed by Mr. Abel of MidAmerican ("terrific, " 2008), Mr. Kinstler of See's ("extraordinary, " 2007), Tom Nerney of U.S. Liability Insurance ("fabulous, " 2002) and Mr. Jain ("amazing, " 2006).
The Corporation and Mr. Scott also have an agreement that requires Mr. Scott and his related family interests, before selling their MidAmerican shares, to give the Corporation the right of first refusal to purchase their shares or the opportunity to assign its right to purchase to a third party.
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