Been thinking about this for a while now - everyone's obsessed with chip stocks when it comes to AI, but the real bottleneck nobody's talking about is actually power. And I mean serious power.

Rand Corp's projections are wild: we're looking at 68 gigawatts of AI data center demand this year, jumping to 327 gigawatts by 2030. That's not just a constraint, that's THE constraint holding back the whole AI infrastructure build-out. If you're only looking at Nvidia and the chip crowd, you're honestly missing half the picture.

So I've been digging into who's actually positioned to capitalize on this. There are two plays that caught my attention.

First is NextEra Energy. Yeah, I know - a utility stock doesn't sound sexy when you're thinking about AI, but hear me out. This Florida-based company runs the largest utility in the US through Florida Power & Light, serving over 12 million customers. But the real move is their NextEra Energy Resources division, which acts as a wholesale power generator. They're already working with Google Cloud on multiple AI data center projects - announced a deal last December to build and power new facilities. Google's also helping them modernize their digital infrastructure, which is kind of a nice bonus.

What's interesting is their commitment: they're planning to deliver an additional 15 gigawatts to data centers by 2035, with 6 GW coming from gas-fired plants. Their CEO John Ketchum basically said on the earnings call that they want to double that goal and hit 30 GW through this channel. Full-year net income hit $2.97 billion, up from $2.3 billion previously. They're guiding for 8% compound annual growth through 2032 with 10% dividend growth expected for 2026.

But here's the thing - power infrastructure is only half the bottleneck. Data centers also need the wiring to make everything work efficiently. That's where Credo Technology comes in.

Credo makes high-speed data connectivity solutions, and their Active Electrical Cables are where it gets interesting. These aren't just regular copper wires - they use signal processors to move data faster and more efficiently between chips and switches while reducing power consumption and signal degradation. They just landed a deal with TensorWave, an AI cloud provider that works with AMD, to supply their AECs for next-generation AI infrastructure.

Their recent earnings were impressive: $268 million in revenue for Q2 FY2026, up 272% year-over-year. They actually swung to a $82.6 million net income versus a $4.2 million loss a year ago. They're guiding for Q3 revenue between $335-345 million.

What I like about this angle is the diversification. You've got NextEra as a regulated utility with predictable growth and dividend income, and Credo as a high-growth play with a unique product that's becoming essential infrastructure. Both are riding the same wave of AI data center buildout without being directly exposed to chip competition. If those Rand projections hold up - and honestly they probably will given what we're seeing in the market - both of these could be interesting positions for rounding out an AI infrastructure portfolio beyond just the obvious chip stocks.