AI Gold Rush’s Best-Kept Secret

Forget the flashy AI tickers and overhyped chip stocks; if you’re serious about investing in the backbone of the artificial intelligence revolution, it’s time to look underground.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI), one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America, is quietly emerging as one of the smartest ways to play AI’s relentless appetite for energy. Not because it’s building chatbots or developing neural networks, but because it owns the pipelines that will keep the entire AI ecosystem powered.

AI is about algorithms and energy as well. Every ChatGPT query, every autonomous vehicle update, every massive language model training session is powered by data centers, and those data centers are energy guzzlers. And as data center growth explodes, so does the demand for electricity, fast, reliable, and consistent power. Renewable sources are scaling, but they can’t meet the 24/7, high-load demand of AI infrastructure just yet. That’s where natural gas, and by extension Kinder Morgan, comes in.

Kinder Morgan transports about 40% of the natural gas used in the U.S. It owns more than 70,000 miles of pipelines, essential infrastructure that’s now becoming even more critical as AI-driven energy demand grows.

And the company isn’t sitting still. Its current $5 billion project backlog, including expansion projects like South System Expansion 4 and Trident, is tailored to meet increased load from utilities and power plants anticipating AI-powered energy spikes. These projects are backed by long-term contracts, providing reliable, fee-based cash flow that’s insulated from commodity price swings.

The numbers tell a compelling story. In Q4 2024, Kinder Morgan saw a 60% jump in project backlog, largely due to anticipated AI energy demands. For 2025, the company expects net income to increase by 8% to nearly $2.8 billion, with EBITDA growing around 4%. These aren’t just solid numbers; they reflect structural growth fueled by a digital revolution.

And don’t overlook the income appeal. Kinder Morgan offers a dividend yield above 4%, backed by stable operations and predictable cash flows.

Unlike many high-yield stocks, KMI’s payout isn’t a red flag but reflects its cash-generating power and disciplined capital allocation. Less than 5% of its EBITDA is exposed to volatile commodity pricing, which makes its earnings and its dividend dependable.

Then there are the policy tailwinds. Both Biden’s clean tech push and Trump’s tariff-driven onshoring strategy stand to benefit infrastructure players like Kinder Morgan. And as LNG exports to Europe and Asia climb, the company’s vast gas transportation network becomes even more valuable. While chipmakers grab headlines, KMI sits at the profitable intersection of AI infrastructure, energy security, and global trade realignment.

In a market bloated with AI speculation, Kinder Morgan offers something rare: a grounded, cash-flowing business with real exposure to AI’s energy surge. It may not be flashy, but it’s foundational. The pipelines that crisscross North America are increasingly the lifeblood of the digital economy, and Kinder Morgan owns a huge piece of them.

If you’re thinking long term and looking for a stable, income-generating way to ride the AI supercycle, Kinder Morgan might just be your most underrated pick. Because the next big thing in AI isn’t in the cloud, it is buried deep in the ground.