Powering Up Your Portfolio: Two Energy Stocks for the Long Haul

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So, the world is, as everyone keeps pointing out, changing. Specifically, it’s attempting to wean itself off things that explode when burned, which, when you think about it, is a fairly recent development in human history. For millennia, fire was just…good. Now we’re fiddling about with wind turbines and solar panels, which, admittedly, don’t have quite the same dramatic flair. This, naturally, creates opportunities. And opportunities, my friends, often translate into reasonably sound investments. Specifically, two companies are looking particularly interesting at the moment, if you have a spare thousand dollars knocking about and a disposition towards long-term thinking.

Brookfield Renewable (BEPC +0.53%)(BEP +0.65%) and NextEra Energy (NEE +0.25%) aren’t just dipping a toe into the clean energy pool; they’ve practically built a resort there. And, crucially, they seem to know what they’re doing. That’s always a good sign. They’re not flashy, mind you, but solid, dependable…like a really well-made pair of walking boots. And if you’re planning a long hike – or, in this case, a long-term investment – that’s exactly what you want.

High-Powered Growth Ahead (Or, Why Windmills Aren’t Just for Dutch Masters)

Brookfield Renewable, to give it its full title, operates a truly enormous portfolio of renewable energy assets. It’s one of those numbers that makes your brain hurt if you try to visualize it. They don’t just have renewable energy sources; they practically are renewable energy. What’s particularly clever is how they’ve structured things. They generate predictable cash flow, tied to inflation, which is a nice touch in these unpredictable times. It’s like having a little engine that quietly prints money, adjusted for the rising cost of everything. They’ve been steadily increasing their dividend for years – since 2011, in fact – at a rate of at least 5% annually. That’s…remarkable. It means you can sit back, relax, and watch your investment gently, but consistently, grow.

But it’s not just inflation they’re benefiting from. They’re also tinkering with efficiencies, building new projects, and, occasionally, acquiring other companies. It’s a four-pronged approach, a sort of renewable energy quartet, if you will, that they expect to drive growth of over 10% per year through at least 2030. And beyond that? Well, they’re optimistic. Which, in the world of finance, is as good as a promise. This all supports their plan to keep increasing that dividend, by 5% to 9% annually. It’s a high-yield, high-growth combination, which, let’s be honest, is exactly what you want from an investment.

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Powerful Total Return Potential (Or, Why Utility Companies Aren’t Always Boring)

NextEra Energy, meanwhile, is a bit of a different beast. They operate Florida Power & Light, the country’s largest electric utility, which, on the surface, sounds…well, rather dull. But beneath that veneer of respectability lies NextEra Energy Resources, a leading developer of clean energy infrastructure. It’s a clever combination: the stability of a regulated utility combined with the growth potential of renewable energy. FPL provides a steady, predictable income stream, while the resources segment generates cash flow backed by long-term contracts. It’s a bit like having a reliable base salary and a side hustle. The payout currently yields nearly 3%, and has grown at a compound annual rate of 10% over the last 20 years. That’s…astonishing, frankly.

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And they’re not resting on their laurels. They’re planning to invest a truly enormous amount of capital in the coming years, building new renewable and natural gas generation capacity, transmission lines, and even AI data centers. It’s an ambitious plan, a sort of energy infrastructure extravaganza, if you will. They believe they can grow their adjusted earnings per share by over 8% annually through at least 2035. That drives their plans to increase their dividend by 10% this year and by a 6% compound annual rate from that level in 2027 and 2028. It’s a combination of income and growth that could fuel robust total returns for investors in the coming years.

Plugged into a Powerful Growth Trend (Or, Why Betting on the Future Isn’t Always a Gamble)

Brookfield Renewable and NextEra Energy are leaders in operating and developing clean energy. That puts them in a strong position to capitalize on the lower-carbon energy transition and expected acceleration in power demand. These energy stocks have the power to turn a $1,000 investment made today into a much larger sum of money in the decades ahead. It’s not a guaranteed outcome, of course. Nothing in life is. But it’s a reasonably sound bet, a sort of calculated gamble on a future that, let’s face it, is probably going to involve a lot more windmills and solar panels. And that, my friends, is something worth investing in.

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2026-01-21 21:33