The AI Infrastructure Play Hiding in Plain Sight That Could Be 2026's Biggest Surprise

58 minutes ago 3

Reuben Gregg Brewer, The Motley Fool

Sat, May 30, 2026 astatine 9:35 AM CDT 4 min read

Artificial quality (AI) is simply a headline-grabbing exertion that is already having a worldly interaction connected the world. While it tin bash awesome things, there's 1 large weakness: AI doesn't enactment without electricity. AI is, aft all, conscionable a fancy machine program.

That is wherefore utilities and different powerfulness providers are successful the quality contiguous arsenic they effort to support up with powerfulness request from AI and different technologies, specified arsenic electrical vehicles. If you are looking for an AI infrastructure play, the world's largest utility, NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE), could beryllium a large option. Here's why.

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A idiosyncratic   successful  enactment    cogwheel  looking astatine  blueprints with upwind   turbines successful  the background.

Image source: Getty Images.

NextEra Energy isn't truly hiding

It is hard for a institution to fell erstwhile it is the largest successful its industry. However, galore investors don't afloat admit the scope of NextEra's offerings. As it exists today, the institution operates a ample regulated electrical inferior successful Florida and a declaration powerfulness business. The powerfulness concern is 1 of the world's largest producers of star and upwind power. That gives the institution 2 ways to grow, with the declaration powerfulness concern capable to respond rapidly to AI request nationwide.

NextEra has been a reliable concern for a precise agelong time. Notably, it has accrued its dividend annually for implicit a quarter-century. Annualized dividend maturation has been generous, hovering astir 10% a twelvemonth implicit the past decade. To beryllium fair, the institution is trimming its dividend maturation people to 6% going forward. But that's inactive an charismatic fig successful the inferior sector.

Meanwhile, NextEra's dividend output is 2.8%, notably higher than the mean utility's 2.5%. That's a beauteous compelling story, bolstered by NextEra Energy's content that vigor request volition summation by 60% betwixt 2025 and 2045. Between 2005 and 2025, request accrued conscionable 10%. The banal is simply a large enactment for some dividend maturation investors and growth-and-income investors.

A large merger shows NextEra is leaning successful to AI

The communicative gets adjacent amended erstwhile you look astatine NextEra's projected acquisition of Dominion Energy (NYSE: D). The woody is expected to amended NextEra's fiscal presumption and summation its net maturation rate. It volition besides grow the company's geographic scope successful its regulated operations to 4 U.S. states, up from 1 today. One of the caller states, Virginia, is besides the apical planetary marketplace for information halfway capacity. In different words, NextEra volition materially grow its quality to work AI customers with this deal.

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