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Duke Energy's electricity rates beat quarterly estimates

Duke Energy beat Wall Street's expectations on Tuesday for revenue and profit in the first quarter, thanks to higher electricity prices, increased retail sales, and a colder Winter.

U.S. utilities are arguing for higher electricity bills, as the power consumption surges due to the growth of AI data centers and increased manufacturing in the United States.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. power demand is expected to reach record levels in 2025 and in 2026. This will be largely due to the expansion of Big Tech's data centers. After years of stagnation, the U.S. Nuclear industry has also become popular as businesses look for clean energy sources to power data centers.

Duke said that it had signed letters of agreement on projects totaling 1 gigawatts for data centers last month.

Duke Energy is focusing on upgrading its existing infrastructure and building new power plants to meet the growing demand.

Brian Savoy, Duke's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), said that these investments were very cost-effective. Duke Energy will create 1 gigawatt in capacity over the next few years through upgrades and the extension of the lives of nuclear power stations.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission renewed Duke Energy's Oconee Nuclear Station operating licenses by 20 years in late March.

Duke Energy's nuclear plants will provide more than half of their electricity to customers in the Carolinas by 2024. These plants represented over 96% the company's clean power production.

A colder-than-expected-winter also helped the utility as customers needed more electricity and natural gas to heat their homes.

The adjusted earnings for its electric utilities segment in the first quarter were $1.28 billion compared to $1.02 billion at the same time last year.

Gas utilities posted a profit adjusted of $349 millions in the first quarter compared to $284 million one year ago.

LSEG data shows that the quarter's revenue came in at $8.25billion, exceeding analysts' estimates of $8.06billion.

Charlotte, North Carolina based company reported an adjusted profit per share of $1.76 for the three-month period ended March 31 compared to analysts' average estimates of $1.60. Reporting by Pooja menon in Bengaluru, and Laila kearney in New York. Editing by Sahal muhammed and Nick Zieminski.

(source: Reuters)