In this article, we are going to discuss the 12 best electric utility stocks to buy for the data center power surge.
The US electricity demand jumped to a record high last year, with data centers accounting for around 50% of the demand growth. As the global AI race continues its momentum and the American hyperscalers pour hundreds of billions of dollars into building out their AI infrastructure, the country’s power demand is on track to reach even further highs in 2026 and 2027.
As a result, the US utilities sector witnessed its strongest start to the year since 2019, driven by an investor retreat from riskier assets during the Middle East conflict and the surging power demand from data centers. To keep up with the soaring demand, the country’s utilities are planning significant capital expenditures over the next five years, focused on infrastructure modernization, reliability, and new generation capacity.
According to Regulatory Research Associates, the US energy utilities are forecasted to spend approximately $1.3 trillion in aggregate capital expenditures between 2026 and 2030. The combination of a strong demand and rising investments positions the sector to continue delivering strong growth and also sustain its high shareholder returns in the future.
With that said, here are the Best Utility Stocks to Buy Amid the Data Center Power Surge.
Our Methodology
To collect data for this article, we used our stock screeners to identify utility companies catering to the soaring power demand from data centers in the United States. We ranked these stocks by the number of hedge funds invested in them at the end of Q4 2025, as per the Insider Monkey database. We then limited our final selection to companies that have recently reported noteworthy developments likely to impact investor sentiment. The following are the Best Utility Stocks to Buy Now.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
12. Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 40
Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) provides regulated electricity service to 3.6 million homes and businesses in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and regulated natural gas service to 500,000 customers in South Carolina.
On May 4, Barclays analyst Nicholas Campanella boosted the firm’s price target on Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) from $66 to $70, while maintaining an ‘Overweight’ rating on the shares. The updated target, which represents an upside potential of over 13% from the current levels, comes following the utility’s “solid” Q1 report.
Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) topped profit and revenue estimates in its first quarter, supported by the higher power demand in Virginia. The company caters to the largest cluster of data centers on the planet in Virginia, and it revealed that it had contracted nearly 51 GW of data center capacity as of March, up 2.5 GW from December 2025.
Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) reaffirmed its operating earnings forecast of $3.45 to $3.69 per share for full-year 2026. Moreover, the company reiterated its target of an annual earnings growth at the midpoint of its 5% to 7% range, with a bias toward the upper half of the range starting from 2028.
11. WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43
WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States.
WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) reported strong results for its Q1 2026 on May 5, helped by the higher power sales to residential and industrial customers. The company delivered a profit of $2.45 per share during the quarter, up $0.18 compared to the same period last year and exceeding estimates by $0.15. Its revenue also grew by 9% YoY to $3.43 billion and topped expectations by almost $17 million.
According to WEC, electricity consumption by the large commercial and industrial customers surged by 2.7% YoY during the quarter, while usage among small commercial and industrial customers increased by 0.7%. Meanwhile, residential electricity demand edged up 0.2% from the same period last year, lifting total retail electricity deliveries by 1.3% YoY, excluding sales to an iron ore mine.
For the second quarter, WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) is targeting an EPS in the range of $0.76 to $0.82 per share. The utility also reaffirmed its full-year 2026 earnings guidance of $5.51 to $5.61 per share, assuming normal weather for the rest of the year. Moreover, the company expects long-term EPS growth of 7% to 8% a year on a compound annual basis between 2026 and 2030.
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