One of the early winners of the 2026 artificial intelligence (AI) trade has been energy stocks. One example is Entergy (ETR 1.61%), with shares up around 25% on the year. It also recently offered some bullish news through its subsidiary, Entergy Louisiana, which landed a deal with Meta Platforms (META 2.61%).

To support its $27 billion data center in Louisiana, Meta will fund seven new natural gas power plants, battery storage infrastructure, and new transmission lines. It also agreed to a collaborative framework with Entergy for exploring nuclear power development.

Entergy

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While Meta is spending for future returns, energy companies can benefit in both the present and years to come thanks to power-hungry data centers.

Data centers spark a revenue catalyst

AI workloads are putting constant strain on traditional grids, and that is only expected to become a larger issue over the next few years.

By 2027, Goldman Sachs‘ research team projects energy demand from data centers will increase by 50%, accelerating further, with energy demand forecast to jump as much as 165% by 2030, compared to 2023.

Natural gas companies have an opportunity to meet that demand by offering consistent, reliable power.
According to the International Energy Agency, natural gas accounts for 26% of data center electricity demand. Coal and natural gas together are projected to meet 40% of the additional electricity demand from data centers until 2030.

That demand can provide a significant revenue catalyst for several companies now and in the future.

Investments to consider

One benefactor of AI’s energy demands was mentioned earlier: Entergy. It has 28 facilities powered by various energy sources, including natural gas.

Another is Energy Transfer LP (ET +0.27%), which is supplying natural gas to three of Oracle‘s U.S. data centers. There’s also Enbridge (ENB 0.82%), which sees data centers creating new demand for it in the years ahead, as multiple planned projects are already being built in the vicinity of its infrastructure and operations.

Finally, while not a natural gas exploration, transportation, or refining company, GE Vernova (GEV 1.05%) supports the infrastructure of natural gas plants through its turbines. As one example, GE Vernova announced that Crusoe ordered 29 gas turbine units to meet its data center needs.

For each of these opportunities, investors should still dive deeper into each company to understand its business model and specific risks. Still, as long as this demand persists to power data centers, energy companies can continue winning in 2026 and beyond.