Biggest CapEx Utilities Stocks
Top utilities companies ranked by capital expenditures, latest annual filings.
What Capital Expenditures Mean for Utilities Companies
Capital expenditures sit at the heart of the utilities business model. Approved capex goes into the rate base, and the utility earns its authorized return on that invested capital, which means every dollar of approved investment is designed to earn a regulated return over its depreciable life. Capex is therefore the primary engine of earnings growth in the sector rather than a drain on cash available to shareholders.
Why Capital Expenditures Matter
Investments in grid modernization, renewable generation, transmission, and hardening against extreme weather expand the rate base and, assuming timely regulatory recovery, grow earnings. Still, capital projects disallowed by regulators, delayed by permitting, or stranded by technology shifts can tie up investment without producing the authorized returns they were planned to earn. The regulatory environment quality of each jurisdiction shapes whether capex translates cleanly into future profit.
What to Read Alongside
Pair capex with Free Cash Flow to see cash after heavy investment, Net Income for the profit the rate base supports, and Long-term Debt because large utility capex programs are substantially debt-financed.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DUK | Duke Energy Corporation | Utilities | $14.02B | $99.63B |
| 2 | NGG | National Grid plc | Utilities | $13.17B | $83.60B |
| 3 | SO | The Southern Company | Utilities | $12.74B | $107.51B |
| 4 | PCG | PG&E Corporation | Utilities | $11.79B | $28.57B |
| 5 | KEP | Korea Electric Power Corporation | Utilities | $10.96B | $14.38B |
| 6 | XEL | Xcel Energy Inc. | Utilities | $10.91B | $51.14B |
| 7 | SRE | Sempra | Utilities | $10.61B | $51.13B |
| 8 | EXC | Exelon Corporation | Utilities | $8.53B | $47.21B |
| 9 | ETR | Entergy Corporation | Utilities | $7.68B | $52.82B |
| 10 | BEP | Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. | Utilities | $6.59B | $9.43B |
| 11 | EIX | Edison International | Utilities | $6.51B | $22.84B |
| 12 | BIP | Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. | Utilities | $6.02B | $18.15B |
| 13 | AES | The AES Corporation | Utilities | $5.93B | $10.61B |
| 14 | CNP | CenterPoint Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $4.87B | $26.95B |
| 15 | FE | FirstEnergy Corp. | Utilities | $4.71B | $26.88B |
| 16 | FTS | Fortis Inc. | Utilities | $4.33B | $31.00B |
| 17 | ES | Eversource Energy | Utilities | $4.16B | $26.31B |
| 18 | AEE | Ameren Corporation | Utilities | $4.13B | $31.24B |
| 19 | PPL | PPL Corporation | Utilities | $4.03B | $26.94B |
| 20 | ATO | Atmos Energy Corporation | Utilities | $3.56B | $29.27B |
| 21 | AEP | American Electric Power Company, Inc. | Utilities | $3.45B | $68.90B |
| 22 | PEG | Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated | Utilities | $3.27B | $36.20B |
| 23 | AWK | American Water Works Company, Inc. | Utilities | $3.13B | $29.92B |
| 24 | CEG | Constellation Energy Corporation | Utilities | $2.95B | $88.56B |
| 25 | EVRG | Evergy, Inc. | Utilities | $2.80B | $20.53B |
| 26 | NI | NiSource Inc. | Utilities | $2.78B | $21.18B |
| 27 | VST | Vistra Corp. | Utilities | $2.75B | $42.51B |
| 28 | PNW | Pinnacle West Capital Corporation | Utilities | $2.62B | $12.63B |
| 29 | EMA | Emera Incorporated | Utilities | $2.58B | $15.62B |
| 30 | ENLT | Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd | Utilities | $1.81B | $9.56B |
| 31 | BIPC | Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation | Utilities | $1.61B | $4.88B |
| 32 | TXNM | TXNM Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $1.20B | $6.41B |
| 33 | POR | Portland General Electric Company | Utilities | $1.19B | $5.47B |
| 34 | IDA | IDACORP, Inc. | Utilities | $1.18B | $8.63B |
| 35 | NRG | NRG Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $1.15B | $18.56B |
| 36 | BEPC | Brookfield Renewable Corporation | Utilities | $1.14B | $5.89B |
| 37 | OGE | OGE Energy Corp. | Utilities | $1.05B | $10.47B |
| 38 | RNW | ReNew Energy Global Plc | Utilities | $1.00B | $2.53B |
| 39 | XIFR | XPLR Infrastructure, LP | Utilities | $958.00M | $690.08M |
| 40 | SR | Spire Inc. | Utilities | $922.40M | $5.25B |
| 41 | UGI | UGI Corporation | Utilities | $837.00M | $7.94B |
| 42 | BKH | Black Hills Corporation | Utilities | $819.80M | $6.49B |
| 43 | SWX | Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. | Utilities | $807.87M | $6.62B |
| 44 | AQN | Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. | Utilities | $771.90M | $4.25B |
| 45 | MDU | MDU Resources Group, Inc. | Utilities | $770.39M | $3.92B |
| 46 | OGS | ONE Gas, Inc. | Utilities | $707.23M | $5.09B |
| 47 | ORA | Ormat Technologies, Inc. | Utilities | $619.78M | $5.65B |
| 48 | AVA | Avista Corporation | Utilities | $570.00M | $3.37B |
| 49 | NWE | NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. | Utilities | $524.46M | $5.09B |
| 50 | NWN | Northwest Natural Holding Company | Utilities | $466.89M | $2.18B |
| 51 | ENIC | Enel Chile S.A. | Utilities | $462.28M | $6.00B |
| 52 | CPK | Chesapeake Utilities Corporation | Utilities | $448.60M | $3.54B |
| 53 | MGEE | MGE Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $343.22M | $3.04B |
| 54 | HE | Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. | Utilities | $341.20M | $1.46B |
| 55 | CWEN | Clearway Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $319.00M | $7.00B |
| 56 | EDN | Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima | Utilities | $252.48M | $616.48M |
| 57 | AWR | American States Water Company | Utilities | $236.82M | $3.57B |
| 58 | CEPU | Central Puerto S.A. | Utilities | $202.42M | $1.49B |
| 59 | UTL | Unitil Corporation | Utilities | $185.10M | $1.05B |
| 60 | TAC | TransAlta Corporation | Utilities | $181.59M | $4.12B |
| 61 | CIG | Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais - CEMIG | Utilities | $127.62M | $5.32B |
| 62 | KEN | Kenon Holdings Ltd. | Utilities | $116.41M | $2.99B |
| 63 | TLN | Talen Energy Corporation | Utilities | $98.00M | $14.73B |
| 64 | CTRI | Centuri Holdings, Inc. | Utilities | $86.33M | $2.06B |
| 65 | SPH | Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. | Utilities | $71.96M | $1.15B |
| 66 | OKLO | Oklo Inc. | Utilities | $33.20M | $4.38B |
No companies match this search.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by capital expenditures as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.
- Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
- Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
- Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $500 million in market cap or above. Below that, one mis-stated figure outranks the companies the list is about.
- Currency check: A company whose annual revenue runs above 15 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the two figures are not in the same currency.
- Currency check: A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out for the same reason.
- Market cap: stated at each company's latest close, which is newer than the annual figure ranked here.
- Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).
Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
How does utility capex translate into earnings growth?
Regulated utilities earn an authorized return on equity against the rate base, which is the approved value of capital invested in serving customers. When new capex is added to the rate base through a general rate case or a forward-looking mechanism, earnings grow in line with the equity portion of that additional capital at the authorized return. This is why rate-base growth rates and authorized returns together largely determine long-term earnings growth for regulated utilities, with capex scale being the main driver of rate-base growth.
Why does utility capex typically exceed operating cash flow?
Large capex programs in grid modernization, transmission, and renewable generation often exceed the cash flow the business generates in a given year, which is why utilities issue debt and equity to fund the gap. This is a structural feature of the business model rather than a sign of stress: regulators allow utilities to earn a return on the full rate base including debt-financed capital, and the debt capacity is supported by stable regulated cash flows. Free cash flow after capex is therefore often negative for growing utilities, though earnings continue expanding.
What risks can undermine the expected returns on utility capex?
Regulators can disallow portions of requested investment if they determine spending was imprudent or outside approved plans, creating stranded costs that earn nothing. Permitting delays can push projects beyond planned in-service dates, deferring the earnings they were designed to produce. Technology shifts, particularly in generation, can leave older assets uneconomic before fully depreciated. The quality of each state regulatory commission and the alignment between capex plans and regulatory direction materially affect whether planned returns actually materialize in reported earnings.