AI-Resistant Dividend Stocks
Why smart money is rotating from software into "essential" infrastructure.
The market is currently pricing in a massive disruption event. Investors are selling software companies because they fear Artificial Intelligence will drive the marginal cost of code, analysis, and digital services to zero. If an AI agent can write software or analyze financial data instantly, the “moats” around companies like Salesforce CRM 0.00%↑ or Adobe ADBE 0.00%↑ begin to evaporate.
But there is a class of companies that AI cannot disrupt.
These are businesses protected by physical and regulatory moats. While AI can generate infinite digital content, it cannot generate:
Regulatory Approval: You cannot simply “code” a new interstate pipeline.
Physical Location: You cannot digitize a prime retail corner or a Las Vegas resort.
Energy Transmission: You cannot train an AI model without massive amounts of physical electricity.
For the dividend investor, the move for 2026 is not to chase the AI “hype” stocks, but to own the physical infrastructure that AI relies on, and the human experiences that AI cannot replicate.
Here is my blueprint for an AI-Resistant Income Portfolio.
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Infinite AI Access Needs Finite Power
Software is often viewed as a “high margin, low cost” business because code is free to replicate. But Intelligence is expensive. It requires massive amounts of physical electricity to run these models.
Here is the data that proves why physical infrastructure is the true bottleneck of the AI revolution:
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a standard Google search uses about 0.3 watt-hours of electricity. A single ChatGPT query uses roughly 2.9 watt-hours. That is nearly 10 times the energy consumption for every single interaction.
The Data Center Boom: Goldman Sachs projects that data center power demand will grow by 160% by 2030. In the US alone, data centers are expected to consume 8% of the country’s total power by the end of the decade, up from just 3% in 2022.
Here is the kicker. You can ship a thousand Nvidia H100 chips in a week. But it takes 5 to 10 years to build a new high-voltage transmission line or a nuclear power plant.
The Conclusion: We have an infinite demand for computing power, but a finite supply of electricity to run it.
This supply-demand imbalance creates massive pricing power for the companies that own the grid, the pipelines, and the power plants. While software prices race to the bottom, energy prices are poised to race to the top.
On January 11th, I issued an article highlighting Cohen & Steers Income Realty Fund RQI 0.00%↑ because the fund held many of the businesses that were able to capitalize on this rising energy demand. RQI has massively outperformed the S&P 500 SPY 0.00%↑ since then.
I believe these dividend-paying companies also have the ability to outpace the S&P 500 for 2026.
1. Enbridge ENB 0.00%↑
Dividend Yield: ~5.3%
While tech investors worry about which chip will win the AI race, Enbridge investors just get paid to power the race.
The Business Model: Enbridge operates the world’s longest and most complex crude oil and liquids transportation system. It moves 30% of the crude oil produced in North America and 20% of the natural gas consumed in the US.
The AI Moat: AI Data Centers are driving the largest spike in electricity demand in decades. This power is largely generated by natural gas. Enbridge has recently identified over 50 distinct opportunities to connect data centers directly to its gas network.
Why It Wins: You cannot build a competitor to Enbridge. The regulatory hurdles to building new pipelines are virtually insurmountable. They have a monopoly on the physical movement of energy.
2. American Electric Power AEP 0.00%↑
Dividend Yield: ~3.1%
While Enbridge moves the fuel, AEP moves the electrons. They are one of the largest regulated utilities in the US, but more importantly, they own the nation’s largest electricity transmission network (40,000 miles of lines).
I recently published a dedicated analysis on AEP over on Seeking Alpha. I issued a buy rating.
The Business Model: AEP is a regulated monopoly. They build the poles and wires, and the government guarantees them a set return on that investment (RoE). It is boring, predictable, and essential.
The AI Moat: AEP serves the “Silicon Heartland” of Columbus, Ohio—one of the fastest-growing data center markets in the world. They recently identified a pipeline of 56 Gigawatts of new data center load waiting to connect to their grid. To put that in perspective, that is roughly enough power for 40 million homes.
Why It Wins: You cannot build a competitor grid. High-voltage transmission lines take 5–10 years to permit and build. AEP already owns the highway that Big Tech needs to use, giving them immense leverage as power demand skyrockets.
The “Physical World” trade goes deeper than just pipelines and convenience stores. To see the high-yield funds that capitalize on the massive power demand of AI, and the “Landlord of Las Vegas” that yields 5%+, upgrade your subscription below.
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