By Tom Anderson, Wall Street Watchdogs
I’m going to share something with you that most financial advisors won’t tell you.
The lights are about to go out.
Not literally. Not everywhere. But in the places that matter most—the data centers powering the artificial intelligence revolution, the manufacturing plants reshoring to America, the electric vehicle charging networks spreading across the nation—we are careening toward a full-scale energy crisis.
And I’m not talking about some distant, hypothetical scenario your grandchildren might face. I’m talking about 2026. Next year.
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation—the official body tasked with keeping your power on—issued a stark warning late last year. They identified “elevated risk” of summer electricity shortfalls in 2026 and beyond across all three major U.S. grid regions. This isn’t some doomsayer blog post. This is the official regulator telling you the grid is about to buckle.
Here’s what’s driving this crisis: AI data centers are devouring electricity at a pace that would have seemed impossible just three years ago.
According to S&P Global’s October 2025 outlook, U.S. data center power demand will hit 75.8 gigawatts in 2026. That number will balloon to 108 gigawatts by 2028 and 134.4 gigawatts by 2030. For perspective, the entire installed generation capacity of the United Kingdom is around 76 gigawatts. We’re building the electrical equivalent of the UK—just for data centers—in the next 12 months.
BloombergNEF raised their forecast 36% in December 2025, now projecting 106 gigawatts of data center power demand by 2035. Over a quarter of the 150 major data center projects announced in the past year exceed 500 megawatts each.
And here’s the kicker—power availability is already extending data center construction timelines by 24 to 72 months, according to a World Resources Institute analysis. The bottleneck isn’t chips. It’s not talent. It’s electricity. Pure and simple.
The Department of Energy projects that data centers could consume between 6.7% and 12% of all U.S. electricity generation by 2028—up from roughly 4.4% in 2024. John Quigley, senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, put it bluntly to CNBC: “They’re pretty much the whole boat when it comes to increases in electricity demand.”
You’re already paying for this crisis. In the PJM electricity market—stretching from Illinois to North Carolina—data centers accounted for an estimated $9.3 billion price increase in the 2025-26 capacity market. Pew Research reports the average residential bill is rising by $18 a month in western Maryland and $16 a month in Ohio because of this surge. A Carnegie Mellon study estimates data centers and crypto mining could drive an 8% increase in the average U.S. electricity bill by 2030—exceeding 25% in high-demand markets like northern Virginia.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas called the “disorganized integration” of large loads like data centers the biggest growing reliability risk facing the state’s electric grid. And remember: ERCOT serves over 26 million customers and powers more than 90% of Texas.
But here’s what Wall Street won’t tell you: Every crisis creates opportunity. And this energy crunch is setting the stage for the greatest wealth transfer in the American power sector since Thomas Edison flipped the switch at Pearl Street Station in 1882.
I’ve identified three companies positioned to profit massively from this chaos. Each one represents a different play on the nuclear renaissance that’s about to reshape American energy. And yes—I said nuclear. Because while solar panels and wind turbines make for lovely press releases, the hyperscalers building these AI data centers have figured out what you and I have known for decades: only nuclear power can deliver reliable, 24/7, carbon-free baseload electricity at the scale they require.
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Stock #1: OKLO (NYSE: OKLO)—The Microreactor Pioneer Backed by Silicon Valley’s Most Powerful Man
Let me tell you about a company that most people have never heard of—but that could become one of the most important energy companies of the next two decades.
Oklo doesn’t build the massive, multi-billion-dollar nuclear plants that defined the 20th century. They’re building something far more radical: small, modular fission reactors that can fit on roughly two acres of land.
Their Aurora powerhouse—a sodium-cooled microreactor producing between 15 and 50 megawatts of power—represents a complete reimagining of nuclear technology. Unlike conventional reactors, Aurora doesn’t require water as a coolant. This dramatically reduces costs and opens up deployment options in locations where traditional nuclear would be impossible.
But what really sets Oklo apart is their business model. They don’t sell reactors. They sell electricity. Just like your utility company today, Oklo will build, own, and operate these plants—then sell the power directly to customers under long-term contracts. This “takes the burden away from customers” of having to build and operate their own nuclear facilities, as the company has explained.
And the customer demand is staggering.
In December 2024, Oklo signed what the company calls “one of the largest corporate power agreements in history” with data center operator Switch. The agreement calls for 12 gigawatts of nuclear power delivery through 2044. That’s enough electricity to power 3.6 million homes. Switch—whose clients include Google, Nvidia, and Cisco—sees Oklo as the key to meeting their “ambitious expansion plans and future energy demand projections.”
Oklo’s customer pipeline has expanded to approximately 2,100 megawatts, including announced sites in Idaho, Ohio, Texas, and Wyoming.
And who’s backing this moonshot? None other than Sam Altman—the CEO of OpenAI, the company that launched the AI revolution with ChatGPT. Altman served as Oklo’s chairman until stepping down in April 2025 to “open new partnership opportunities with OpenAI and other artificial intelligence companies.” That’s not a resignation—it’s a strategic repositioning to allow Oklo to power OpenAI’s own data centers.
Altman has been clear about his vision: “I think the two most important inputs to a great future are abundant intelligence and abundant energy.” He invested in Oklo’s seed round in 2015 after the company emerged from Y Combinator—where Altman was president.
The company made crucial progress in 2025. The U.S. Department of Energy approved Oklo’s Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for its first commercial reactor at Idaho National Laboratory. They were selected for the DOE’s Reactor Pilot Program, allowing construction to proceed while NRC commercial licensing continues in parallel. They’ve conducted multi-day plutonium fast reactor critical tests with Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Oklo holds the distinction of being the first company to receive a DOE site use permit for a commercial advanced reactor—they’ve held it since 2019. They’re also the first to submit an advanced reactor combined license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The company is targeting late 2027 for its first commercial reactor to come online. If they hit that target, they’ll be among the first next-generation nuclear companies to actually deliver commercial power.
Financially, Oklo is well-positioned for the long road ahead. They maintain approximately $1.2 billion in cash and marketable securities—a substantial war chest for a pre-revenue company. The stock is currently trading around $80, down from highs above $193 in October 2025, which represents a compelling entry point for patient investors who understand that nuclear deployment timelines are measured in years, not quarters.
Wall Street’s consensus rating is “Buy” with an average price target around $108—implying roughly 35% upside from current levels. 12 analysts recommend buying the stock.
Is Oklo speculative? Absolutely. They haven’t generated a dollar of revenue. They haven’t received their NRC commercial license. A lot has to go right.
But if nuclear microreactors become the standard solution for powering AI data centers—and every major tech company’s recent moves suggest they will—Oklo is positioned to be the category leader.
Stock #2: Nano Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: NNE)—The Portable Power Revolution
If Oklo represents the Silicon Valley approach to nuclear, Nano Nuclear Energy represents something even more audacious: nuclear power you can move.
This New York-based company believes it’s the first portable nuclear microreactor company to be listed publicly in the United States. And their vision goes beyond data centers—they’re targeting remote communities, mining operations, military installations, and eventually, space.
Their lead product is the patented KRONOS MMR—a stationary high-temperature gas-cooled reactor designed to deliver 15 megawatts of electrical power (45 megawatts thermal). It uses TRISO fuel and passive helium cooling with what the company describes as “walk-away safety” features—meaning the reactor can safely shut itself down without human intervention.
But KRONOS is just the beginning. Nano Nuclear is also developing ZEUS, a solid core battery reactor, and LOKI MMR, a portable microreactor designed for space applications. Yes, space. The company sees nuclear power as essential for long-duration space missions and extraterrestrial human settlements.
What distinguishes Nano Nuclear from many of their competitors is their aggressive pursuit of vertical integration. They’re not just building reactors—they’re building an entire nuclear fuel ecosystem.
Their subsidiary HALEU Energy Fuel Inc. is focused on developing a domestic source for High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU)—the advanced fuel that most next-generation reactors require. The U.S. currently imports most of its HALEU from Russia, which presents obvious strategic vulnerabilities. Companies that can secure domestic supply chains will have an enormous competitive advantage.
Their subsidiary Advanced Fuel Transportation Inc. holds an exclusive license to a patented high-capacity HALEU fuel transportation basket developed by three major U.S. national laboratories and funded by the Department of Energy.
Nano Nuclear achieved critical milestones in 2025. They acquired the patented KRONOS technology in January, which benefitted from substantial investment over an 8-year development period and carries a high technology readiness level. They executed a collaboration agreement with the University of Illinois to build their first KRONOS prototype. Site characterization and drilling began in October 2025. They plan to file a construction permit application with the NRC in or around Q1 2026.
The commercial pipeline is developing rapidly. A potential customer announced plans to pursue a feasibility study for deploying 15 KRONOS units. BaRupOn is evaluating deployment of many KRONOS units to generate 1 gigawatt of energy across multiple sites.
Morgan Stanley included Nano Nuclear in their National Security Index in October 2025, recognizing the company’s role “in advancing secure and resilient energy capabilities.”
Financially, Nano Nuclear is well-capitalized. Their cash position reached approximately $580 million following an October 2025 private placement with leading institutional investors that raised net proceeds of approximately $379 million. This gives them substantial runway to advance through the licensing process and prototype construction.
The stock is currently trading around $25, down from a 52-week high of $60.87. The average analyst price target is $47, representing nearly 90% potential upside. Four analysts rate it a Buy, one a Strong Buy.
Like Oklo, Nano Nuclear is pre-revenue and faces substantial regulatory and execution risk. But their portable, modular approach could prove essential for applications that larger reactors simply can’t serve—remote locations, military operations, and eventually off-planet power generation.
Stock #3: Constellation Energy (NASDAQ: CEG)—The Nuclear Giant Powering Big Tech
If Oklo and Nano Nuclear represent nuclear’s future, Constellation Energy represents its powerful present.
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Constellation isn’t a startup. It isn’t speculative. It’s the largest nuclear fleet operator in the United States, with over 20 reactors at roughly a dozen sites across the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast. Nearly 90% of their generation comes from nuclear power—making them virtually a pure play on nuclear energy and the largest producer of 24/7 emissions-free electricity in America.
And the biggest technology companies in the world are lining up to write them very large checks.
In September 2024, Constellation announced a landmark 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft. The deal will restart Three Mile Island Unit 1—the nuclear reactor that was shuttered for economic reasons in 2019—to provide 835 megawatts of carbon-free baseload power for Microsoft’s data center operations. The recommissioned plant, now called the Crane Clean Energy Center, is targeting a 2028 restart.
Microsoft is reportedly paying a premium price for this power. Bloomberg reported the deal would provide Constellation with approximately $785 million in annual revenue by 2030.
In November 2025, the Trump administration’s Department of Energy closed a $1 billion loan to help finance the restart. When the federal government backs your project with a billion dollars, that’s about as close to a stamp of approval as you can get.
Constellation was awarded “Energy Deal of the Year” at the 2025 Platts Global Energy Awards for the Microsoft agreement.
But Microsoft isn’t Constellation’s only hyperscaler customer. In June 2025, Constellation announced a 20-year agreement with Meta Platforms for 1.1 gigawatts of nuclear power. The deal will keep Constellation’s Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois open and operating—the plant was originally set to close in 2027—and Constellation is now exploring small modular reactor deployment at the site to boost production further.
Meta has invested over $1 billion in its data center in DeKalb, Illinois, which will benefit from this clean power supply.
The acquisitions and expansion plans don’t stop there. In January 2025, Constellation announced a $26.6 billion acquisition of Calpine Corporation—creating the nation’s largest clean energy provider.
The combined entity will control nearly 60 gigawatts of capacity from nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, cogeneration, and battery storage. They’ll serve 2.5 million customers across the continental United States, with significantly expanded presence in Texas—the fastest-growing market for power demand—and California.
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In December 2025, Constellation reached a resolution with the U.S. Department of Justice on the conditions required to complete the Calpine acquisition. This represents the final regulatory clearance needed. CEO Joe Dominguez stated: “It’s now time for us to complete the transaction, welcome our new colleagues from Calpine, and together begin our journey to light the way to a brilliant tomorrow for all.”
The deal is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings by more than 20% in 2026 and add at least $2 per share of EPS in future years. It’s projected to add more than $2 billion of free cash flow annually.
Constellation’s financial performance is already exceptional. The company generated nearly $24 billion in revenue in 2024, with roughly $3.7 billion flowing to net income and over $4 billion in free cash flow. They increased their dividend by 25% in 2024, exceeding their 10% annual growth target.
The stock performance tells the story. Constellation shares have soared over 475% in the past three years—outpacing Nvidia, Meta, and Microsoft. They’re up about 170% over the past 12 months.
Unlike Oklo and Nano Nuclear, Constellation generates real profits today. KeyBanc analyst Sophie Karp recently raised her price target to $417, predicated on the belief that “the growing value of data will contribute to growth in the company’s business.”
For investors who want exposure to the nuclear renaissance without the speculation of pre-revenue companies, Constellation offers a way to own the largest nuclear fleet in America—backed by 20-year contracts with the world’s most powerful technology companies.
The Bottom Line
Let me be direct with you: We are heading into a period of extraordinary opportunity in American energy.
The same forces that sent oil stocks soaring during previous energy crises are about to work their magic on nuclear. Big Tech’s insatiable appetite for reliable, carbon-free power—combined with a grid that simply cannot keep pace—is creating demand that only nuclear can satisfy.
Solar and wind advocates will keep making their arguments. But when Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google need power that runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year—regardless of weather—they’re signing contracts with nuclear operators.
These three companies represent different ways to play this trend. Oklo offers the highest-risk, highest-reward bet on next-generation microreactors. Nano Nuclear offers an even more audacious vision of portable nuclear power with a well-capitalized balance sheet. Constellation offers proven, profitable nuclear generation backed by the longest-term contracts in the industry.
I believe all three deserve consideration for a portfolio positioned for the coming energy reality.
Good investing,
Tom Anderson Wall Street Watchdogs
Wall Street Watchdogs is committed to uncovering the truth about financial markets and helping individual investors prepare for systemic risks that mainstream media won’t discuss. We receive no compensation from the companies or assets we analyze. This article is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice.
