Matthew Roling, founding executive director of the Abrams Climate Academy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, shares his top three picks for energy dividend stocks that will generate returns in the clean energy transition and survive the AI bubble.
By Matthew Whittaker, U.S News & World Report
Published June 10th, 2026
One disadvantage to investing directly in commodities like oil through, say, the derivatives market is that futures contracts don’t pay dividends. To solve that, many investors turn to oil producers to gain exposure to that market while also achieving income through company dividends.
Of course, in the energy industry, there are more than oil and gas companies. There are also renewables companies involved in solar and wind, as well as investor-owned utilities that can provide a measure of stability to portfolios, balancing out volatile oil and gas holdings.
The energy industry is in transition at the moment. Oil and gas demand will be here for the foreseeable future, but renewables are making inroads and nuclear energy is experiencing a renaissance as governments and business around the globe seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, electricity demand is set to soar because of artificial intelligence and the electrification of industries including transportation.
“Today’s best dividend candidates are a mix of old-line hydrocarbon companies, natural gas infrastructure firms and selected electric utilities,” says Tally Ferguson, a University of Tulsa professor who works closely with the school’s Center for Energy Studies and is the faculty advisor for the $10 million student-managed investment fund.
In the near term, oil and gas companies are benefiting from the supply shock stemming from conflict in the Middle East, notes Matthew Roling, clinical assistant professor and founding executive director of the Abrams Climate Academy at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
But the oil price shock from the Iran conflict is functioning as “the most effective accidental carbon pricing event in history,” and that is fueling the clean energy acceleration in the medium term, he says. “When oil prices spike 60% in a weekend, the economics of solar, wind and battery storage improve dramatically without any policy change,” he says.
That brings renewable energy’s cost advantage and startup speed into focus.
Utility-scale solar and onshore wind are now the cheapest sources of new electricity generation, and solar and battery storage take only months to install, Roling points out. It takes years to commission a new natural gas power plant.
“Investors with a five-to-10-year horizon who are willing to hold through near-term volatility should be bullish on clean energy,” he says. “Long-term: The energy transition is inevitable. The question is who wins it.”
With that in mind, here’s a look at seven top energy stocks with strong dividend yields:
TotalEnergies SE (TTE)
Total is the only major integrated oil company with an energy transition strategy that Roling finds credible, given that Shell PLC (SHEL) has walked back its 2035 emissions target, BP PLC (BP) reversed its transition strategy and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) have comparatively minimal transition investment.
“The seriousness with which TotalEnergies is tackling the energy transition will allow it to mitigate downside risks – geopolitical shocks, policy shifts and the inevitable secular decline in global crude oil demand – in a manner its competitors are simply not prepared for,” Roling says.
Last year, TotalEnergies increased its portfolio of renewable energy generation capacity to 108.7 gigawatts from 97.2 gigawatts in 2024. The company plans to increase its annual electricity production to between 100 terawatt-hours and 120 TWh by 2030, mainly from renewable sources.
The company’s stock has a forward dividend yield of 4.8%.
Brookfield Renewable Partners LP (BEP)
Turning to a renewables-focused company, Roling says Brookfield Renewable Partners operates one of the world’s largest publicly traded platforms for renewable power, with approximately 13,400 megawatts of installed hydroelectric, wind, utility-scale solar and distributed energy capacity across North America, South America and Europe.
“For investors who want pure-play renewable energy exposure with a credible, growing dividend and institutional-grade risk management, BEP is the most defensible answer in the sector,” Roling says.
The stock is yielding 4.3%, and the company has increased its dividend for the past three consecutive years.
Utilities are often considered defensive stocks because homes and businesses need electricity no matter what the economy is doing. These stocks aren’t likely to outshine growth equities when the economy is doing well, but investors will be glad to have them in a downturn.
Most investor-owned utilities in the United States are racing to sign contracts with power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers, but that introduces risk that companies won’t be able to bring their projects to fruition, Roling says. He thinks the market is underpricing that execution risk.
Portland General Electric Co. (POR)
He points out that POR is the notable exception, with only modest data center exposure. Its long-term load growth guidance is 3% annually through 2029, including 400 megawatts of data center load.
Meanwhile, the company has a clean generation mix, with 45% of the energy it generated in 2024 coming from non-carbon-emitting resources. The company is also reducing emissions from its retail power supply by 80% by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
POR’s yield of 4.2% is competitive with the broader investor-owned utility peer group. “What differentiates it is the risk profile behind it,” Roling says. “Utilities with massive data center contracts face significant execution risk if AI demand growth disappoints or interest rate conditions tighten. POR’s more modest load growth profile and its head start on the clean energy transition means its dividend is backed by a more predictable earnings trajectory.”
As proof, the company has increased its dividend for the past three consecutive years.
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