NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy placed 8.7 gigawatts of new renewable and storage projects into service in 2024, the third consecutive year of record origination. The company added 3.2 GW of new projects to its backlog in Q1 2025 alone, bringing total pipeline to 29.5 GW—including 0.3 GW wind, 1.7 GW solar, 0.9 GW battery storage, and 0.3 GW repowering. This is primary succession at scale: NextEra colonizes the renewable energy landscape before ecosystems stabilize around fossil fuel incumbents. As the world's largest generator of renewable energy from wind and solar, NextEra exhibits first-mover advantages that compound over time. Each completed project generates data on optimal turbine placement, weather patterns, grid integration, and maintenance cycles. This knowledge improves returns on subsequent projects while competitors work from smaller data sets. The biology: early colonizers shape the environment for all future inhabitants.

The company projects adjusted EPS of $3.45-3.70 for 2025, continuing a growth trajectory that delivered $3.43 adjusted EPS in 2024 (up 8%). For 2026 and 2027, NextEra expects adjusted EPS of $3.63-4.00 and $3.85-4.32 respectively, demonstrating confidence in pipeline conversion. The backlog provides visibility that fossil fuel utilities lack: 29.5 GW of signed contracts waiting for construction and commissioning. NextEra maintains a 10% annual dividend growth target through at least 2026, returning cash to shareholders while funding the $120 billion four-year capital deployment plan. This is r-selection strategy optimized: rapid expansion into available territory, minimal investment per site relative to nuclear or coal plants, quick reproduction as each project spawns adjacent opportunities.

The Google Cloud partnership announced in December 2025 commits NextEra to developing approximately 15 GW of new power generation capacity by 2035 specifically for data center campuses. AI's energy appetite creates habitat for renewable expansion that didn't exist five years ago. Data centers need 24/7 power, historically favoring baseload sources like natural gas and nuclear. But battery storage paired with solar and wind increasingly provides reliable power at costs fossil fuels can't match. NextEra's November 2024 Irish manufacturing plant for Libre 3 production and ongoing capacity additions demonstrate that the company views current demand as sustainable, not transient. The company reduced fossil fuel generating capacity from 41% in 2020 to 36% in March 2025, systematically replacing old infrastructure with renewables. This is ecological succession in real-time: pioneers establish, climax communities form, and previous dominants fade to marginal roles.