Robert Rapier · Chemical engineer & Forbes energy contributor · the 36-year Utility Forecaster franchise
You don’t have to pick the AI winner. You just have to own the companies getting paid to build it.
2025 Full-Year Results
Growth Portfolio
16.5%
Beta 0.63 · ~37% less volatile
Income Portfolio
10.7%
+ 4.8% yield · Beta 0.41
“Risk-adjusted, we won. Competitive returns with substantially less volatility.”
Since 1989, Utility Forecaster has tracked the unglamorous companies that move power, water, fuel, and connectivity — the essential infrastructure of the modern economy. Today, AI’s demand for that infrastructure is doing something only seen once in a generation: turning the same stocks that pay a 4.8% dividend into a genuine growth story. In 2025 the Income Portfolio returned 10.7% and the Growth Portfolio 16.5% — and several of our longest-held positions are up more than 3,000% since we bought them.
Chief Investment Strategist, Utility Forecaster · Chemical engineer · Forbes energy contributor · lead analyst behind a 36-year franchise
BloombergThe Washington PostForbes60 Minutes
Last year, in an auction most investors have never heard of, the price of one thing quietly jumped about 833%.
Not a stock. Something far more boring, and far more important: the price of promising to deliver electricity when the grid needs it. I’ve spent 36 years analyzing the companies that keep the lights on, and that number made me put down my coffee — because it’s the first hard, dollars-and-cents proof of something most investors still haven’t connected to their own income.
Here’s the short version. Artificial intelligence runs on electricity, and the data centers behind it need staggering, around-the-clock power — now. But the companies that generate and move that power were built for a world where demand grew about 1% a year. That world is over. Demand is exploding; new supply takes years to build. When near-unlimited demand collides with scarce supply, the owners of that scarce supply get paid — a lot more. And those owners are, almost to a name, the boring, dividend-paying utilities and infrastructure companies I’ve covered since 1989.
This is the part that matters for you. To build all that capacity, the industry is about to spend trillions of dollars over the next four-plus years. That spending doesn’t just lift share prices — it flows into these companies’ cash flows, which means it funds, and grows, the dividends they pay you. You don’t have to guess which AI company wins. You don’t have to own a single expensive technology stock. You just have to own the companies getting paid to build it — and collect a rising check while they do.
For the first time in my career, the same stock can hand you all three things investors are usually forced to choose between: the sleep-well-at-night safety, the dependable income, and real growth. A triple threat. What follows is the case for owning the right ones — while it’s still early.
I · The Thesis
How AI just turned your safest stocks into your fastest-growing ones.
For decades, the safest stocks in America were the boring ones — the companies that move power, gas, water, fuel, and connectivity. They paid dividends. They didn’t move much. AI changed that.
Every AI model, every data center, every autonomous vehicle, every cloud workload — they all run on physical electricity, moved through physical pipelines and wires, generated by physical companies. Companies you’ve heard of, that already exist, that already pay dividends every quarter.
Those companies operate under regulated rate structures the U.S. Supreme Court established in 1865. They cannot be disrupted the way retail or media have been. You cannot build a competing power grid in a garage. You cannot ship water through an app.
What is changing — and what is changing now — is how much the market is willing to pay for them. After fifteen years of being treated as bond proxies, essential-infrastructure stocks are being repriced as the irreplaceable assets they actually are. Income hasn’t gone away. Safety hasn’t gone away. But growth has shown up — and it’s not going away soon either.
II · Why now
Three forces just lined up in your favor.
Any one of these alone would be bullish. Right now you’re stepping into all three converging at once — the kind of setup that defines an investment cycle, not a quarter.
01
Grid stress
Coal plants are retiring faster than replacements come online. Multiple regions are now reporting sustained 5–7% load growth, with localized pockets in double digits — the first sustained growth in decades.
// +5–7% / yr
02
AI power demand
Data centers consume an estimated 4–5% of total US electricity today and that share is climbing fast. Hyperscalers alone are on track to spend ~$1.15 trillion building out AI through 2027, and technology giants are restarting mothballed nuclear plants because they cannot get power through normal channels.
// ~$1.15T AI capex
03
Scarcity pricing
PJM Interconnection’s capacity price just cleared roughly 833% higher than the prior year — the total bill jumping from about $2.2 billion to over $16 billion in three years, with data centers driving ~40% of it. Companies that own firm capacity are being repriced as the irreplaceable infrastructure they are.
// PJM: ~833% higher
III · The Trifecta
Get safety, income, and growth — from the same stocks.
Most investments give you one. The good ones give you two. We’ve spent thirty-six years building a portfolio that delivers all three — and 2025 was no exception.
S&P 500
Bonds
Utility Forecaster
Safety
✗
Beta 1.00
✓
Low volatility
✓
Beta 0.41
Income
✗
1.3% yield
~
~4% (no growth)
✓
4.8% & growing
Growth
~
15.1% (high risk)
✗
Near zero
✓
16.5%
Safety, income, and growth from the same stocks — for the price of a dinner out.
Tickers stay private until you’re a member. But the kinds of businesses we buy — and the way they compound — are not a secret.
01
Bakken midstream toll-taker
Pipelines and processing infrastructure of the Bakken. Fee-based — doesn’t depend on commodity prices. Backstopped by one of energy’s strongest balance sheets. Built like a utility.
Yield
7–8%
Streak
added Feb ’26
Members only →
02
Permian-anchored integrated major
Diversified upstream — Permian, deepwater Gulf, Australian LNG. The only US major that never left a particular geopolitically interesting reserve base.
Yield
3.9%
Hold
since 2018 · +115%
Members only →
03
Gulf Coast multi-essential
Held since 1994, up +3,642% with a beta near 0.10. A 75-GW data-center pipeline through 2030 and an $81B five-year capital plan, with billions in federal financing secured.
Yield
3.2%
Capex
$81B / 5 yrs
Members only →
04
Coastal Virginia data-center power provider
Held since 1989, up +2,972% and still paying 3.9% today. A $65B five-year capital plan, almost entirely tied to accelerating data-center demand.
Yield
3.9%
Capex
$65B / 5 yrs
Members only →
05
Pipeline-to-distribution converger
Bought three regulated gas operators in one transaction. Earning regulated rate-base growth on assets the seller couldn’t afford to develop.
Yield
6%+
Note
3-utility deal
Members only →
06
Midstream energy giant
Held since 2000. Total return of +4,040%. A fee-based toll-taker that gets paid to move energy regardless of the commodity price, with the distribution raised every year.
Yield
6.0%
Hold
since 2000 · +4,040%
Members only →
07
Pure-play water utility
Held since 1994. Total return of +3,220% with a 5-year beta near 0.10 — the most boring business imaginable, compounded into a thirty-two-fold return.
Yield
3.6%
Hold
since 1994 · +3,220%
Members only →
08
Telecom leader carrying half of America’s data
Strong balance sheet, free cash flow more than covering the dividend, market pricing in too much pessimism. The contrarian income play of 2026.
Yield
6%+
Note
Dividend covered
Members only →
8 of more than 40 active holdings. Total return since our entry date, as of June 2026; specific holdings and tickers are reserved for members. And we show our misses, too: of our last 12 closed positions, 8 were winners and 4 were losses — including one we cut at roughly −37% — because the discipline that protects the dividend means cutting what isn’t working.
The mistake
Why most investors will miss this entirely.
What everyone buys
The demand side
The chipmakers, the hyperscalers, the names already up 300%. Crowded, expensive, and priced for perfection. You’re paying a fortune to bet on which AI company wins.
What almost no one buys
The supply side
The unglamorous companies that own the power, the pipelines, and the grid the whole boom depends on — that already pay you a dividend while you wait, and historically fall less when markets turn.
The demand side is crowded and expensive. The supply side is scarce, essential, and still valued like it’s 2015 — and that’s exactly the inefficiency this portfolio is built to own.
V · The Math of Patience
From 4% yield to 30%+ — without buying a single new share.
Buy a $50 stock yielding 4%. Hold it while the dividend grows 7% a year. Three decades later, that same share is paying you 30.4% — on your original cost. It is not a trick. It is what our long-term holdings have actually done.
Year 10
7.9%
yield on cost
div: $3.94 / yr
Year 20
15.5%
yield on cost
div: $7.74 / yr
Year 30
30.4%
yield on cost
div: $15.22 / yr
VI · How We Pick
The four traits of a Triple Threat winner.
Going forward, the essential-infrastructure sector will not move as one. Some companies — power producers, midstream operators, water utilities, telecom infrastructure — will compound through this cycle. Others will lag, and many will cut their dividend before they admit it. Here is what separates them.
Regulatory or contract alignment.
Constructive jurisdictions for the regulated names; long-term, fee-based contracts for the midstream and infrastructure names. Without one or the other, capital plans don’t translate into earnings.
Balance sheet strength.
Investment-grade credit. Capacity to fund a multi-billion-dollar capital plan without leaning on dividend cuts or shareholder dilution.
Firm capacity exposure.
Dispatchable generation: natural gas, nuclear, hydro. Storage that scales. Whoever owns firm capacity is being paid premium rates for the first time in decades.
Customer + transmission mix.
Long-term agreements with creditworthy data center and industrial customers. Regulated transmission pipelines.
“The most attractive investments in this cycle share a common profile: strong regulatory alignment, disciplined balance sheets, exposure to firm capacity, and clear visibility into capital deployment.”
You don’t have to guess which company wins. You just have to own the ones that get paid either way.
Every recommendation passes through the same machinery — the screens, rankings, and early-warning models Robert has refined over decades. Layers of protection that decide what’s safe, what to buy, and when to get out. It’s the difference between a tip and a system — and it’s what you’re really paying for.
01
The Complete Portfolio.
All 40+ holdings, every entry price, every live rating — Robert’s exact positioning, ready to mirror. No guessing, no hunting.
02
Robert’s Current Best Buys.
The names Robert would buy right now — force-ranked with buy-under prices, five income and five growth. When you have cash to put to work, you’re never guessing where it goes.
03
Weekly Email Issues.
Robert in your inbox every Friday — portfolio moves, new recommendations, income strategies, and monthly Income Spotlights, so you’re never the last to know.
04
The Safety Rating System.
An 8-point credit check on every dividend — payout, debt, cash-flow coverage, regulatory footing — re-scored monthly against each company’s own industry. Score 4 or higher and a cut is rare; if a stock can’t pass, it doesn’t get in.
05
The Early Warning System.
It watches the financial health beneath a company’s surface numbers and flags a dividend at risk before it’s cut — caution, not alarm, with time to act. The method behind it has been trusted by analysts for over a century.
06
The “How They Rate” Table.
Nearly 400 essential-service stocks — utilities, pipelines, REITs, telecom, staples — ranked and refreshed twice a month, each carrying its Safety Rating. Look up anything you own and see exactly where it stands.
Bonus briefings
Four briefings, included.
A $199 retail value — each one turns the strategy into something you can act on now. Two-year members receive all four; one-year members receive Report I.
Utility Forecaster
EST. 1989
Bonus Report · No. I
Robert’s 2026 Essential Income Portfolio
Your income portfolio, pre-built and ready to buy.
Included with membership
Utility Forecaster
EST. 1989
Bonus Report · No. II
The Infrastructure Opportunity
Where the 2026 income is headed — and why.
Included with membership
Utility Forecaster
EST. 1989
Bonus Report · No. III
5 Stocks Positioned for the AI Power Boom
The supply side almost no one is buying.
Included with membership
Utility Forecaster
EST. 1989
Bonus Report · No. IV
The Dividend Compounding Blueprint
Turn today’s yield into double-digit income on cost.
Included with membership
Members
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Richard B. · Member, 11 years
★★★★★
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★★★★★
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★★★★★
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Membership
Two ways to begin.
Both plans include the full portfolio, weekly issues, and the 90-day money-back guarantee. The two-year plan adds all four bonus reports and locks your rate for the price of a single dinner out. After your first term it renews at our standard $99/year — we’ll always email you first, and you can cancel in one click.
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The 90-day, no-questions guarantee
Try Utility Forecaster for 90 days. If you’re not satisfied for any reason, email customerservice@investingdaily.com and we’ll refund every penny. The reports, the data, the issues — they’re yours regardless.
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I’d rather you spend your time on the portfolio than on this page. So here’s the simplest version: the structural setup for essential-infrastructure stocks is as favorable today as I’ve seen in 36 years. Ninety days and a no-questions guarantee mean you can verify that for yourself — and if it isn’t for you, you pay nothing and you keep the reports.
If it is — welcome.
Robert Rapier
Chief Investment Strategist · Utility Forecaster
P.S. The stocks everyone’s chasing are the demand side of the AI-power trade — crowded and expensive. Utility Forecaster is about the supply side: the essential companies that get paid no matter which AI company wins, that pay you a dividend while you wait, and that fall less when the market turns. There’s no countdown clock here — just the simple fact that the repricing is happening now, and early is where the advantage is. Start today, with 90 days to decide.
