Alliant Energy beats fourth-quarter profit estimates on higher electricity rates

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Utility firm Alliant Energy LNT.O beat fourth-quarter profit estimates on Thursday, helped by higher electricity rates.

Regulated utilities use rate case proceedings to seek rate increases, basing their appeals on their investments or expenses incurred in delivering services.

Quarterly adjusted profit from its Interstate Power and Light Company unit almost tripled to $101 million from a year earlier, after it received an order from the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) authorizing annual base rate increases.

Alliant serves roughly 1 million electric and 427,000 natural gas customers in Iowa and Wisconsin.

Last year, the utility firm said it executed multiple power supply deals with data centers in Iowa and Wisconsin.

The increasing popularity of advanced artificial intelligence tools, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, has led to a growing need for high-performance data centers capable of processing the vast amounts of data required to handle large volumes of information, boosting demand for electricity.

The company reported an adjusted profit of 70 cents per share for the quarter ended December 31, compared with the analysts' average estimate of 68 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.