President Donald Trump launched an "America First" agenda when he took office earlier this year. A major aspect of his strategy is an America First trade policy by implementing tariffs on imported goods and signing new trade agreements to eliminate the country's trade imbalances. He wants the U.S. to become an economic and exporting powerhouse.
A core aspect of the president's platform is to make the country a dominant force in the energy sector. He wants to unleash the power of our energy resources to support the onshoring of manufacturing, the expansion of new technologies like AI, and greater exports of U.S. energy.
This America First strategy should be a boon to U.S. energy companies. Enterprise Products Partners(NYSE: EPD) and NextEra Energy(NYSE: NEE) are two leading domestic energy providers that should benefit from the president's policies. It's one of the many reasons they are great stocks to buy now and hold for the very long term.
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Building an American energy export juggernaut
Enterprise Products Partners was formed in 1968 as a wholesale marketer of natural gas liquids (NGLs). Today, it operates one of the largest energy infrastructure platforms in the country.
The master limited partnership (MLP) has an integrated system of 50,000 miles of pipelines and other crucial midstream assets supporting the production and movement of NGLs, crude oil, natural gas, petrochemicals, and refined petroleum products essential to the country's economy.
The MLP is also a leader in exporting U.S. hydrocarbons globally. On the recent first-quarter call, management noted that Trump's introduction of tariffs initially caused "nothing short of chaos around the world," including in the energy markets. However, they have a clear endgame: Promote U.S. energy, not just for the next four years, but for decades.
That would benefit the company's leading export business, which it is already expanding. Enterprise is building an expansion to its Neches River Terminal in Texas to export more ethane and propane. It's increasing the Enterprise Hydrocarbon Terminal's loading capacity for propane and butane, as well as the loading capacity at the Morgan's Point Ethylene Terminal.
It expects to complete these projects by the end of next year. They are part of $7.6 billion in major capital projects the company currently has under construction.
More growth is likely in the future as the Trump administration signs trade agreements featuring energy product purchases. Those future projects should give Enterprise Products Partners the fuel to continue raising its lucrative cash distribution (with its 6.7% current yield). The MLP, which sends investors a Schedule K-1 federal tax form each year, has raised its payout for 26 straight years.
Powering the future
NextEra Energy was formed in 1925 as the Florida Power and Light Company. Over the years, it has become one of the biggest energy companies in the country.
Its Florida Power and Light (FPL) subsidiary is America's largest electric utility, selling more power than any other U.S. utility. And NextEra's energy resources segment is the world leader in producing power from the wind and sun, even though it operates exclusively in the U.S.
The company is the country's top investor in energy infrastructure. It plans to spend $120 billion over the next four years on more domestic energy infrastructure.
It's expanding FPL to support Florida's rising power needs. Meanwhile, it's capitalizing on that state's abundant sunshine by building the country's largest utility-owned solar energy portfolio, which can produce over 7.9 gigawatts (GW). FPL plans to deploy another 17 GW of solar and more than 7.6 GW of battery storage over the next decade.
NextEra's energy resources segment is helping other utilities and large corporate customers meet their increasing power demands. The country needs to deploy 450 GW of new electricity generation capacity by 2030 to help meet the power needs from the onshoring of manufacturing, AI data centers, and increased electrification.
That's leading the company to invest heavily in developing more renewable energy generation capacity. It's also looking into opportunities to invest in more gas-fired and nuclear power plants.
These investments should enable the company to grow its earnings and dividend at healthy rates in the coming years. It has already increased its dividend for 30 straight years.
Fueling an America-First future
President Trump has grand ambitions to unleash a golden era of prosperity in America. That means the country will need more energy to support the rise in manufacturing, AI, and energy exports, which plays right into the strategies of Enterprise Products Partners and NextEra Energy.
The two leading U.S. energy companies will help fuel an America First future, which could power strong total returns for their investors, making them great stocks to buy and hold for the coming decades.
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Matt DiLallo has positions in Enterprise Products Partners and NextEra Energy. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends NextEra Energy. The Motley Fool recommends Enterprise Products Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
