CenterPoint joins peers in raising capital spending plan to meet data centers' power demand

DTE Energy

20/02/2025 13:05

Feb 20 (Reuters) - CenterPoint Energy  CNP.N  on
Thursday increased its capital expenditure plan by $500 million
to strengthen its electricity grid to handle the surging demand
for power from new data centers coming up across the country.
    Power demand from data centers in the U.S. is expected to
nearly triple in the next three years and consume as much as 12%
of the country's electricity, according to a study by Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory.
    CenterPoint expects demand to grow nearly 50% by 2031 in the
Houston electric service territory, and on Thursday increased
its 10-year capital plan through 2030 to $47.5 billion to
improve the resilience its grid in the region.
    The company's peers Dominion Energy  D.N , Duke Energy
 DUK.N  and DTE Energy  DTE.N  have also raised their respective
capital expenditure plans in the last month to accommodate the
rising power demand from data centers.
    Utilities were among the biggest winners in the S&P 500 last
year on expectations of surging demand from data centers. The
S&P index tracking utilities  .SPLRCU  rose 19.6% in 2024.
    The energy delivery company also reaffirmed its 2025 profit
forecast between $1.74 and $1.76 per share after meeting Wall
Street expectations for fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 40
cents per share.
    The company's quarterly net income rose to $248 million, or
$38 cents per share, from $192 million, or 30 cents per share, a
year ago.
 
 

 (Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
 ((Pooja.Menon@thomsonreuters.com;))