Move Over, Tesla Solar. These 2 Energy Stocks Are Powering The Future of AI

U.S. electricity demand is surging, fueled by electric vehicles (EVs), data centers, and extreme temperatures. As reliable coal and gas plants retire faster than replacements are built, the grid is becoming dependent on variable wind and solar power. To bridge the gap, utilities are turning to virtual power plants (VPPs).VPPs are a cloud-based networks that use thousands of small energy resources, including smart thermostats, EV chargers and home batteries as a single power source. During times of peak stress, VPPs activate by discharging power, signaling thousands of interconnected home batteries, such as those used by Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) or Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH), to send stored energy back to the grid. VPPs can also reduce overall demand by adjusting smart appliances, nudging smart thermostats by a couple of degrees, or by pausing EV charging.Two of the bigger VPP operators, National Grid (NYSE: NGG) and Sunrun (NASDAQ: RUN), benefit from grid operators' need to meet energy demand during peak times. That's especially true now, as power-hungry data centers multiply, driven by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Both companies are seeing additional revenue and profits from offering VPPs.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool