Why Warren Buffett made his latest blockbuster deal — a bet on electric vehicles?

Published Mon, Jul 6 20208:40 AM EDTUpdated Mon, Jul 6 20209:10 AM EDT

(This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only.) Warren Buffett is finally putting a chunk of Berkshire Hathaway's record cash pile to work during the market turmoil with its purchase of Dominion Energy 's natural gas transmission and storage assets. Berkshire is spending $4 billion for the deal along with the assumption of $5.7 billion in debt, marking the conglomerate's first transaction since the coronavirus crisis and its biggest purchase in years. One energy investor had an interesting theory behind the Oracle of Omaha's long-awaited move, announced Sunday. "I think Berkshire here is really getting another foot ahead of idea of a broad transition to electrification broadly across the energy spectrum," Rob Raymond, founder of RCH Energy, said on CNBC's " Squawk Box " on Monday. "They already have some legacy assets in that domain. This is obviously another big further step toward that goal." Raymond believes the electrification of vehicles will juice the demand for natural gas that goes to electric power plants. "We would argue the fleet side of the vehicle market is going to transition broadly to electric over the next several years and that's really driven by technology. So all those electrons are going to come from somewhere and we think a lot of it is going to be provided by burning, if you will, consumption and generation of natural gas," Raymond added. Prior to the announcement, Berkshire has been sitting on a $137 billion cash pile, a record for the conglomerate. Buffett had repeated said the "sky-high" prices were preventing him from making an "elephant-sized acquisition." The latest move showed Buffett's willingness to invest at the right prices as well as his bullishness on the economy and the market, said Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist and portfolio manager at Hightower. "We are getting a sign and signal of confidence from him," Link said on " Squawk Box ." "You have Warren Buffett only a couple months ago say that he's not going to do anything because he couldn't find anything that's interesting and now he's being opportunistic. He clearly feels better and he clearly has the confidence, ... so I think this is very positive." With the purchase, Berkshire Hathaway Energy will carry 18% of all interstate natural gas transmission in the United States, up from 8% currently. With the deal, Dominion is transitioning to a pure-play regulated utility company that focuses on clean energy production from wind, solar and natural gas. Following the sale, Dominion expects that 90% of its future operating earnings will come from its utility companies that provide energy to more than 7 million customers in states like Virginia, the Carolinas, Ohio and Utah. Watch the full interview above.