Utilities: Falling rates and AI will drive growth

Article Excerpt

The share prices of U.S. and Canadian utilities companies in general have not performed well over the past decade, lagging the broad market indexes. Reasons for this weaker performance include slow growth in electricity demand for power producers, as well as high interest rates that have hurt utilities overall. However, several factors are now driving projections that U.S. electricity demand will increase substantially over the next decade. In addition, interest rates in both the U.S. and Canada have likely peaked, making the dividend yields of utility stocks more attractive. A decade of zero growth in U.S. electricity demand After a decade of no growth, electricity demand in the U.S. is forecast to grow by 20% by 2030, according to forecasts (see graph below). The main factors driving the expected growth are the rise in energy demand from datacentres used for artificial intelligence (AI), the expansion of domestic semiconductor and battery manufacturing, the onshoring of manufacturing after years of outsourcing, and the expansion of…