The “juice” in the article title does not refer to orange juice futures like in the classic film “Trading Places,” but electricity. Reuters recently reported that at the power auction for the U.S.’s largest electrical grid operator, PJM Interconnection, prices soared 800% from $269.92 megawatts per day from $28.92 megawatts per day at last year’s auction. PJM covers parts of 13 states from Illinois to New Jersey. This significant price increase reflects rising power demands from data centers, crypto mining, and electric vehicles.
The annual auction secured 135,684 megawatts of power from June 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026. The resulting power mix was from various sources, including 48% gas, 21% nuclear, 18% coal, 5% demand response, 4% hydro, 1% wind, and 1% solar, as well as 2% from other resources, as seen below.
Shares of many independent power producers jumped on this news, especially those with nuclear power capabilities.
AI, Crypto Mining, and Electric Vehicles Tasking the Grid
Goldman Sachs Research projects that data center power demand will increase 165% by 2030. Currently, data centers use 1-2% of generated power at the global level. However, Goldman expects that number to grow to 3-4% within the next five years or so.
Many technology companies are partnering with energy producers, like nuclear power providers, to ensure they have enough electricity to run their data centers. Companies such as Amazon (Amazon Web Services) and Microsoft have struck deals with nuclear and renewable energy sources to provide power for their data center operations.
Adding to the energy load are other energy-intensive technology applications and use cases, such as cryptocurrency mining and electric vehicles. Crypto miner TeraWulf is at the forefront of this trend of tech companies using nuclear energy. Last year, it put into operation the first domestic crypto-mining facility to be powered entirely by nuclear energy.
While today’s electric vehicles also rely heavily on power grid resources, vehicle-to-grid bi-directional charging might ultimately provide a source of relief. However, for that to happen, there must be a major investment in grid infrastructure.
ETF Plays on this Trend
Today’s technology applications, such as AI, Cryptocurrency, and Electric Vehicles, are all electric power-intensive, creating the need for more energy infrastructure and greater investment in capacity. What are some of the ways to play the trend of rising electricity needs? Where’s the juice? Investors have a number of angles they can take to gain exposure.
Electric Infrastructure
The First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund (GRID) invests in the grid and electric infrastructure sector, including equipment, networks, storage, and software.
Investment in the global grid increased 5% last year to $310 billion, according to BloombergNEF, with the U.S. spending $87 billion—more than any other country. GRID was up 14.6% YTD through the end of July. It has $1.5 billion in assets.
Nuclear
There are two ETFs specifically focused on nuclear power that should benefit from the growing use of nuclear power to satisfy increasing energy demands. They include the VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NLR) and the Range Nuclear Renaissance ETF (NUKZ).
NLR has far more assets, with a little over $220 million, and is up 10% YTD through July 31. The NUKZ launched late in January of this year and has chalked up a YTD return of 23.8%. However, it lags in terms of assets, with only $11 million in AUM.
Midstream
It may seem counterintuitive, but natural gas is still the largest source of electricity in the U.S., making up 42% of the power mix in 2023. As discussed in ETFTrends earlier this year, the increased demand for natural gas due to the data center boom could benefit midstream companies involved in natural gas infrastructure. Based on rising electricity demand, the same could happen for midstream companies engaged in gathering and processing (G&P) and natural gas pipeline transportation. One ETF that could see some upside from all of this is the Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP) due to its focus on midstream companies. The ETF is up 17.7% YTD and has a total of $9 billion in assets under management.
Utilities
Utility ETFs have benefited from rising electricity prices, especially those with a greater mix of independent power producers and less regulated exposure. The top performer in this category YTD is the Virtus Reaves Utilities ETF (UTES), +22.7%, with a little over $100 million in assets, followed by the iShares Utilities ETF (IDU), +17.3%; the Vanguard Utilities Fund (VPU), +17.2%; and the Fidelity MSCI Utilities Index (FUTY) +17.1%. All of these ETFs top $1 billion in assets.
Alternative Energy
Despite the capital intensity of clean energy projects in a high interest rate environment, many alternative energy ETFs — especially those utilizing an energy transition approach that also includes traditional forms of energy — have performed well this year. These include the TCW Transform Systems ETF (NETZ), +21.6%; the SPDR MSCI USA Climate Paris Aligned ETF (NZUS), +15.1%; and the Neuberger Berman Carbon Transition and Infrastructure ETF (NBCT), +14.3%. Although clean energy is a growing part of the power grid energy mix, this transition will occur slowly over time and not overnight.
As we continue in an environment where electrical energy demand outstrips supply, investment opportunities will abound.
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