(Bloomberg) —

NextEra Energy Inc., which calls itself the world’s biggest provider of wind and solar power, plans to buy up municipal and privately owned water assets to build a “world-class water utility,” the company said in its third-quarter earnings call Wednesday.

“We’re really excited about building a significant presence in the water business,” said chief financial officer Rebecca Kujawa. She also announced the company recently spent $45 million to buy regulated water and wastewater utility assets in eight counties near Houston, Texas. NextEra’s water strategy will also focus on assets outside Texas and will probably target certain U.S. regions, she said.

NextEra Builds Renewables Backlog, Adding Record Wind Additions

NextEra chief executive Jim Robo said on the call that he’s “optimistic” about the reconciliation bill U.S. lawmakers are debating and that he’d be shocked if there wasn’t a long-term extension of the clean energy tax credits that boost the company’s business. “I feel good about both the policy tailwinds and how our business is executing along those goals,” he said. 

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