For most investors, transformers, substations, circuit breakers, and switchgear aren’t exactly exciting BBQ conversation. But I’ve learned over the years that some of the best investment opportunities hide in boring places.

And this week, Washington just gave us another reason to start paying attention to America’s electrical grid.

President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday declaring a national emergency over the security of the U.S. bulk-power system.

The order gives the Energy Department authority to restrict certain foreign-produced equipment that could pose a national-security risk. It also goes a big step further: Equipment already installed could potentially have to be isolated, secured, disconnected, replaced, or removed.

We’re talking about transformers, generators, battery-storage systems, grid-connected inverters, turbines, industrial-control systems, and the software and firmware controlling them. The Energy Department now has 120 days to develop the rules that will determine exactly how all this works.

This isn’t a blanket ban on every piece of foreign equipment. But the direction is pretty clear: America wants more control over the equipment powering America.

A Bad Problem Just Got Worse

But there is a problem… the timing couldn’t be more interesting because we’re already in the early stages of one of the largest electrical infrastructure buildouts in decades.

AI data centers require enormous amounts of electricity. Manufacturing is returning to the United States. The grid is aging. And electrification is increasing demand from virtually every direction.

Now add another potential source of demand: replacing existing foreign-made equipment deemed a security threat.

That’s where I think investors should pay attention. If you’re a utility that needs a transformer, you don’t just run down to Home Depot and throw one in the back of your truck.

Some of this equipment is enormous, highly specialized, expensive, and time-consuming to manufacture.

The administration already acknowledged this problem earlier this year when it invoked the Defense Production Act to support domestic manufacturing of large-scale energy infrastructure. The White House specifically cited insufficient domestic capacity, foreign dependence, long lead times, and inadequate investment.

Put it all together. We need to dramatically expand the grid for AI and other sources of electricity demand. We need to replace aging infrastructure. And now we may need to replace some foreign equipment already sitting on that grid.

That’s a lot of equipment. And somebody has to build it.

I’ve Seen This Movie Before

This story takes me back nearly 18 years. On December 13, 2008, I recommended Quanta Services (PWR) on Fox News Channel at $17.78.

It certainly wasn’t the sexiest company I had ever recommended. Quanta builds and maintains the infrastructure behind electricity, pipelines, communications networks, and other essential systems. In other words, it does a lot of the dirty work that makes the modern economy possible.

What I liked was the long-term need for infrastructure investment. America’s electrical system needed to be expanded, modernized, and maintained regardless of what happened in the next quarter. Over the next nearly two-decades that thesis played out even better than I could have imagined.

Quanta eventually reached an all-time high of $788.75 on May 6 of this year. From my original recommendation, that’s a gain of more than 4,300%.

Not bad for boring infrastructure.

There’s an important lesson in that winner today. Investors naturally gravitate toward the exciting technology at the end of an investment trend. But some of the biggest winners can be the companies supplying the infrastructure that makes that technology possible.

The Shortlist

That’s exactly how I’m approaching the AI power boom. Everyone knows Nvidia (NVDA). Far fewer investors spend their evenings researching switchgear.

I do. But what can I say? I know how to have a good time.

So instead of watching Netflix or reading a novel, you can catch me combing through backlog disclosures and earnings call transcripts most investors skip entirely, looking for the same setup Quanta had back in 2008.

Powell Industries (POWL) is one company on my radar. It makes electrical distribution and control equipment used in data centers, utilities, industrial facilities, and other large projects. Hubbell (HUBB) is another major supplier of transmission and distribution equipment, while Eaton (ETN) is one of the biggest beneficiaries of growing electrical demand across data centers, utilities, and industrial markets.

GE Vernova (GEV) provides another way to play both electricity generation and the grid infrastructure required to move that power. And I’ll continue looking further down the food chain for smaller companies supplying transformers, switchgear, electrical components, and other equipment.

Because this story keeps getting bigger.

AI started as a semiconductor story. Then it became a data-center story. Now it’s becoming an electricity, copper, construction, and infrastructure story. Trump’s executive order adds national security and reshoring to that list.

That’s a lot of powerful trends converging in one place.

Quanta showed us what can happen when you identify a major infrastructure investment cycle early. More than 17 years and 4,300% later, I’m looking for the companies that could benefit from the next one.

I don’t know which of today’s names it’ll be. Maybe it’s Powell. Maybe it’s a transformer manufacturer nobody’s watching yet.

But I remember exactly what a $17.78 stock looked like the morning before it started a multi-decade run, and this whole sector is starting to remind me of 2008.

They probably won’t be the sexiest stocks in your portfolio. But that’s never stopped me before.