FACTBOX-US utilities lock in data center supply deals as AI powers demand surge

Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. utilities are racing to sign supply deals with data-center operators as the artificial-intelligence boom sparks a surge in power demand, setting the stage for higher profits in the coming quarters.

Data centers are expected to account for 8% of the power generated in the U.S. by 2030, compared with 3% in 2022, according to a Goldman Sachs report in May.

Here are some deals announced by utilities in 2024 and 2025:

NextEra Energy expanded its partnership with Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google Cloud to scale up data center capacity by multiple gigawatts and boost energy infrastructure across the U.S.

The utility has also secured 11 power purchase agreements and two energy storage agreements with Meta Platforms META.O, totaling over 2.5 GW of clean energy contracts. The projects are scheduled to come online between 2026 and 2028.

PPL's PPL.N Kentucky unit, Louisville Gas and Electric Company, in January 2025 signed a power supply agreement with real estate developers PowerHouse Data Centers and Poe Companies, who will be developing a 400 megawatts (MW) data center campus in Louisville.

The first 130 MW will be available in October 2026.

Constellation Energy CEG.O signed an exclusive deal with Microsoft MSFT.O to restart one of the units at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

Under the agreement, the utility will provide 835 MW of energy to the tech giant's data centers. The deal would also mark the first ever restart of a nuclear power plant in the U.S. after it was shut down.

Constellation also struck an agreement with Meta to keep one of the utility's reactors in Illinois operating for 20 years.

Ameren AEE.N signed a supply deal with a data center with a power capacity of 250 MW. It has also received expansion commitments and executed new contracts for more than 85 MW of additional load for smaller data centers and other industries across Missouri and Illinois.

Alliant Energy LNT.O said it has executed multiple power supply deals with data centers, but did not disclose details.

Exelon EXC.O said it is in the engineering phase for more than 5 gigawatts (GW) of data center capacity. Some data-center customers have also made deposits for ComEd - Exelon's subsidiary - to order transmission and breakers, the firm said during a post-earnings call.

American Electric Power AEP.O signed letters of intent to power an additional 15 GW of data centers by the end of the decade.

Xcel Energy XEL.O will supply power to Meta Platforms' META.O data center in Minnesota.

Entergy ETR.N has received legislative approval for investment in transmission and generation to serve Amazon's AMZN.O upcoming Amazon Web Services (AWS) facility in Mississippi.

The utility has also signed a deal with Meta to supply power to the Facebook-parent's hyperscaler data center located in Louisiana. The location would be Meta's largest data center in the world.

Pinnacle West Capital PNW.N has more than 4,000 MW of committed data center customers, not including the backlog of more than 10,000 data center requests it has received.

AES AES.N signed an agreement with Google GOOGL.O for 310 MW to support its Ohio data centers.

It further expanded a previously announced partnership with Google and signed a 15-year power purchase agreement for 727 MW in Texas.

It also inked two long-term power purchase agreements with Meta to deliver 650 MW solar capacity to support the Facebook parent's data centers in Texas and Kansas.

The utility said in November it had 11.1 GW backlog of signed power purchase agreements, including 4 GW with hyperscaler customers, the large majority of which will come online within the next three years.

Talen Energy TLN.O announced a deal to supply electricity and its 960 MW data center campus to Amazon's AWS in Pennsylvania.

NorthWestern Energy NWE.O has signed a letter of intent to provide energy services to a data center developer in Montana. The energy service load is expected to be a minimum of 50 MW beginning 2027 and would grow to 250 MW or more by 2029.