Renewable power demand will triple in the next 7 years amid AI boom, energy CEO says

As AI continues to boom, data centers will need more power. NextEra Energy Inc.'s CEO thinks renewables are key to meeting the rising demand.

• NextEra Energy's CEO said renewable power demand is set to triple in the coming year.
• The company added 3,000 megawatts of renewables and storage projects last quarter.
• The company is working to meet power demand from the AI sector that's projected to grow threefold.

As artificial intelligence booms, renewable power demand is set to soar, NextEra Energy Inc.'s CEO John Ketchum said.

Demand for renewable energy will likely triple in the next seven years compared to the previous seven, Ketchum said during the company's earnings call Wednesday.

NextEra is working toward meeting that demand, the company said. Last quarter, the company added 3,000 megawatts of renewables and storage projects, almost doubling its existing renewables portfolio, bringing the total renewable power generation to seven gigawatts.

Almost a third of that is going toward an agreement to power Google's data centers, which the company is investing heavily in to expand its AI capabilities. Google parent Alphabet has said it plans to invest over $100 billion to further its AI ambitions.

"As data center growth accelerates to facilitate our economy shift to artificial intelligence and as we continue to re-domesticate and electrify across multiple centers, our nation must embrace an all-of-the-above strategy to meet increasing electric demand," Ketchum said on the call.

"These results support our belief that the bulk of the growth demand will be met by a combination of new renewables and battery storage," Ketchum said. He argues for an "all-of-the-above strategy" to meet the electric demand, with renewables and storage leading the way because they are cheaper and faster to deploy than their competitors.

That low cost and relative speed "keep power prices down, making our economy more competitive globally," Ketchum said.

The company also owns a natural gas fleet, but Ketchum says natural gas is at the will of fuel price fluctuations and therefore more expensive in many states.

NextEra shares are up 23% in 2024, trading at about $74.80 at 10:20 a.m. ET on Thursday.