The Southern Company

The 22nd annual Energy Innovations: LDC Gas Forum Rockies & West will convene 250+ natural gas industry professionals in San Diego to address critical issues in U.S. Rockies and West natural gas markets. Key topics include natural gas demand from AI data centers, LNG exports, midstream infrastructure constraints, gas/electric coordination, and po...

The Department of Energy announced a $17.5 billion loan program to finance five nuclear projects centered on Westinghouse's AP1000 reactor technology. The initiative aims to resolve supply chain bottlenecks and accelerate manufacturing of reactor components. Westinghouse will partner with up to five utilities/energy companies, with each committin...

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced $20 million in conservation grants to restore longleaf pine forests across nine southern states, leveraging $18.6 million in matching contributions for a total impact of $38.6 million. The 25 projects will impact over 380,000 acres, supporting wildlife habitat restoration and rural communities t...

With inflation rising and recession concerns mounting, the article recommends three utility stocks as defensive investments: Southern Company for its stable dividend history and essential services, Brookfield Renewable for its strong dividend growth targets, and Vistra for its growth potential in AI data center power supply.

The article argues that the Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU) offers a more stable and reliable safe-haven investment compared to Bitcoin, gold, and silver. Utility stocks provide steady dividend income with lower volatility (beta of 0.59), a low expense ratio of 0.09%, and a 2.5% dividend yield—more than double the S&P 500 average. The fund has gai...