Utilities are notching load growth they haven’t had in decades, and Wall Street is taking notice. (Latitude Media)
Q2 earnings lit up: Southern Company posted $13B in new capex, FirstEnergy boosted transmission spending forecasts 20%, and CMS and Xcel logged strong data center and ops gains. Jefferies called it the start of a new “golden age of utilities.”
The challenge: meeting surging demand with 24/7 generation while keeping rates in check. Political risk is rising, too. Record rate hikes in PJM territory are already a campaign issue in New Jersey, and analysts warn utilities could be overbuilding into a single-industry boom that fades as fast as it arrived.