CenterPoint Energy reports Q2 profit beat, hikes capex plan on data center demand

U.S. utility CenterPoint Energy CNP.N beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Tuesday and increased its 10-year capital investment plan by $1.2 billion, aided by rising power demand in the Houston service territory.

Shares of the company were up nearly 2% in early trading.

Utilities are pouring billions of dollars into capital spending as they field massive requests for new power capacity from Big Tech firms scouring for viable locations for data centers to handle complex AI-related tasks.

• The company raised its capex plan for 2026 through 2035 to $66.7 billion from $65.5 billion.
• The ballooning electricity demand from data centers, however, has also led to rising electricity prices and raised concerns around affordability.
• "We know that the most impactful way we can positively affect customer affordability is to help facilitate regional economic growth and connect more new customers onto our system," said CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells.
• The company filed a settlement agreement in Houston to reduce customer electric delivery charges by nearly 3%, and expects larger projects to be placed in service in the second half of the year.
• The company now projects 14 gigawatts (GW) of eligible base or studied load by 2031, which is a 65% increase from its current system peak demand of 21 GW.
• Over the next decade, these new connections are expected to reduce Houston Electric's residential and commercial delivery charges by at least $5 billion, the company said.
• The company also identified $700 million in additional investments to serve 3 GW of demand outside the base and studied load categories.
• The Houston, Texas-based company posted an adjusted profit of 40 cents per share for the three months ended June 30, compared with analysts' average estimate of 37 cents, according to LSEG data.