Utility PPL forecasts 2026 profit below estimates, lifts spending plan

Feb 20 (Reuters) - PPL Corp PPL.N on Friday forecast annual profit below expectations, but raised its four-year capital spending plan by 15% as the utility prepares to meet surging power demand from data centers.

U.S. utilities have been adding billions of dollars to their capital expenditure budgets as they face extreme weather while also fielding massive requests for new power capacity driven by data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.

PPL said it expects to spend $23 billion from 2026 through 2029 in capital investments to build new generation capacity and expand transmission networks. This compares with its prior four-year capital budget of $20 billion through 2028.

However, as utilities beef up spending on power plants, cables and other electrical infrastructure to meet demand, concerns are growing about rising customer power bills.

CEO Vincent Sorgi on Friday said he expects the company's joint venture with Blackstone Infrastructure to lower wholesale electricity costs for its customers and build new generation resources in the PJM market.

Last year, PPL formed a joint venture with Blackstone Infrastructure to build natural gas plants to power data centers under long-term energy services agreements.

Sorgi said the utility would focus on ensuring utility bills are affordable, which includes "connecting large loads to transmission networks and developing new large-load tariffs to protect and ultimately lower transmission costs for other customers."

Shares of the utility fell over 2% in premarket trading.

The Allentown, Pennsylvania-based company said it expects adjusted profit per share in the range of $1.90 to $1.98 in 2026, the midpoint of which missed analysts' estimates of $1.95, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Adjusted profit for the fourth quarter came in at 41 cents per share, in line with analysts' expectations.