The end of an Era and the start of the Next

NextEra’s rising fortune has been almost as profound as Exxon’s decline. The company started 2013 with a market cap of less than $30 billion. This has grown to $150bn today with its’ share price compounding at 20% p.a., almost double the rate of the tech-heavy S&P 500 Index and three times the rate of the Utilities sector. In comparison, the Energy sector has actually lost significant value over the same period, falling from 12% of the S&P 500 to just 2% today.

This is a milestone in the shift from fossil fuels to renewables. NextEra’s vision is to be “the largest, most profitable clean energy provider in the world”, a journey it started in 1997 long before clean energy was in vogue. Over the past decade NextEra has invested nearly $90 billion in clean energy infrastructure. Since 2005 its CO₂ emissions rate has reduced by over 50%, and it boasts that “no company in any industry has done more to reduce carbon emissions and to confront climate change”.