Biden Win Would Deliver ‘Next Big Push’ to Renewable Energy Stocks

Renewable energy stocks that have “performed superbly” in spite of the Trump presidency are poised to do even better, if a Biden victory in the U.S. election this fall gives the cleantech sector its “next big push,” the Globe and Mail reported last month.

Biden and vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris were leading in national opinion surveys about 11 weeks out from the vote, when the Globe story appeared, and they’re still ahead this week in national polls and a long list of swing states. In the lead-up to the vote, Biden “has issued a climate plan, establishing bold targets for creating a green U.S. energy grid by 2035 and spending US$2 trillion on renewable energy infrastructure and clean energy research and development over four years,” the Globe notes. “For investors who like the idea of betting on companies that offer solutions to global warming, a Joe Biden presidency is looking like very good news, even for Canadian companies.”

The Biden-Harris campaign platform “includes aggressive climate targets that would make the plan, if passed, the most progressive piece of clean energy [legislation] in America, including California,” CIBC World Markets strategist Ian de Verteuil wrote in an investor note. He cited Algonquin Power & Utilities, Brookfield Renewable Partners, Innergex Renewable Energy, Boralex, Northland Power, and TransAlta Renewables as Canadian renewables companies that have been aiming to grow in the U.S. market.

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Those businesses have fared well in the U.S., despite the active hostility of the failed reality TV star and determined alt-right provocateur currently occupying the White House. “For all of Mr. Trump’s rants over the past four years against wind and solar power and his puzzling support for coal, renewable energy stocks have fared remarkably well during his term in office, buttressing the view that green energy is viable even without government support,” the Globe says.

“The prospects for a possible Biden presidency clearly draw a lot of new attention to this space,” wrote WilderShares LLC CEO Rob Wilder in an email to the Globe. “But it’s actually deeper than that. Solar, wind, and better batteries have all matured quite a lot in the past four years. Prices have come down very fast.”

The Globe notes that Algonquin Power shares are up 62%, and Northland Power 55%, since 2017.