Utilities, Storage and Data Center Power Moves

Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. announced the acquisition of the McMurtre Battery Energy Storage System from Belltown Power, a 175 megawatt or 350 megawatt-hour project near Dallas, Texas. The project is located in the ERCOT North market, which the company described as one of the fastest-growing power demand zones in the United States.

According to Energy Vault, the McMurtre project already has an executed small generator interconnection agreement and full site control, which the company said significantly de-risks the path to construction. Energy Vault plans to deploy its latest B-VAULT AC Technology Platform 3 at the site, describing it as its most advanced system, engineered for rapid deployment and high availability in ERCOT grid conditions.

The company anticipates that commercial operations at the site will commence by December 2027, with a Notice to Proceed expected to be ready in the fourth quarter of 2026. Once the project reaches Ready-to-Build status, Energy Vault intends to contribute it to its Asset Vault investment platform, a fully consolidated subsidiary focused on owning and operating storage assets globally.

Over the lifetime of the McMurtre project, Energy Vault projects total revenues of $350 million to $375 million and above, or approximately $15 million to $20 million annually. The company is evaluating investment-grade offtake structures aimed at securing bankable, front-loaded revenue from the asset.

On March 31, Jefferies analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith raised his price target on NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) to $92 while maintaining a Hold rating. The analyst cited confidence in NextEra’s long-term earnings growth trajectory and a reassessment of valuation after what he described as a significant re-rating of the stock.

Dumoulin-Smith said he believes NextEra can deliver an earnings per share compound annual growth rate of 8% or more. He identified data center power deals as a key near-term catalyst, expecting substantial contracts to materialize in 2026, consistent with an earlier Jefferies note that highlighted large data center power contracts as the primary driver for the stock in that year.

The analyst pointed to NextEra’s involvement in 9.5 gigawatts of natural gas power plant projects in Pennsylvania and Texas, connected to a broader $550 billion trade deal with Japan and backed by President Trump, while cautioning that this announcement remains in very early stages. He also noted that NextEra now trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, roughly 16% above its 2028 peers, representing the highest utility premium on the Street excluding Entergy, and concluded that this leaves limited margin of safety for new buyers.

NextEra Energy (NEE), through its subsidiary NextEra Energy Resources, develops and operates utility-scale storage projects that provide energy shifting, frequency regulation and capacity services, alongside its large wind and solar portfolio.

Separate analysis of utility stocks highlighted NextEra Energy (NEE), Southern Company and Duke Energy as dividend payers with passive income potential. NextEra’s dividend yield was cited at 2.41%, with approximately $273 in annual income per $10,000 invested and management guidance for dividend per share growth of about 10% per year through 2026 from a 2024 base, and 6% annually from year-end 2026 through 2028.

For NextEra, full-year 2025 adjusted earnings per share were reported at $3.71, more than 8% above 2024, with 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $3.92 to $4.02 and a targeted compound annual growth rate of at least 8% through 2032. The company’s Florida Power & Light unit serves about 12 million people with non-fuel operations and maintenance costs more than 71% below the industry average, and a newly approved four-year rate agreement allows for up to $100 billion in infrastructure investment through 2032.

Southern Company was described as yielding 3.06%, or roughly $308 annually per $10,000 invested, backed by 78 consecutive years of dividend increases. Its most recent quarterly dividend was $0.74 per share in March 2026, and full-year 2025 adjusted EPS reached $4.30 on revenue of $29.553 billion, up 10.59% year over year. The company is emphasizing data center demand as a central long-term growth driver, with fourth-quarter 2025 kilowatt-hour sales up 4.9% and wholesale volumes up 14.5%.

Duke Energy’s yield was cited at 3.28%, or about $328 in annual income per $10,000 invested. It is executing a $103 billion five-year capital investment plan targeting 9.6% earnings base growth through 2030. Duke reported 2025 adjusted EPS of $6.31, ahead of 2024’s $5.90, and issued 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $6.55 to $6.80 with a long-term growth target of 5% to 7% through 2030, supported in part by contracted load from AI data centers and advanced manufacturing.

Across the three utilities, a combined $30,000 allocation was calculated to generate about $909 in annual passive income, reflecting a blended yield of 3.03%, underpinned by rate-regulated cash flows, government-approved returns and large-scale capital investment programs.