Duke Energy tops profit, revenue estimates on rate recovery, weather boost

May 5 (Reuters) - Utility Duke Energy DUK.N exceeded Wall Street expectations for first-quarter profit and revenue on Tuesday, supported by the recovery of rate-based infrastructure investments and favorable weather.

U.S. electric utilities are pushing to increase customer electricity rates in 2026 to help pay for infrastructure improvements, as power grids are strained by extreme weather and rising demand from electrification and expanding data centers.

Since 2024, Duke has signed electric service agreements for 7.6 gigawatts worth of new data center demand, the company said on its latest earnings call with investors, with the majority of those projects currently already under construction.

Some 2.7 GW of those data center projects were added in the three months ended March 31.

Duke executives said that the company was in advanced discussions on an additional 15.4 GW of data centers.

One GW is enough electricity to power about 750,000 U.S. houses.

Regulated utilities rely on rate case processes to set how much customers are charged for electricity, natural gas and services such as private water and steam.

Duke Energy's first-quarter revenue came in at $9.17 billion, up from $8.25 billion a year ago, beating analysts' average estimate of $8.43 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Its natural gas unit, which serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky, posted quarterly profit of $532 million, compared with $349 million a year earlier.

However, income from its electric utilities segment was $1.25 billion, down from $1.28 billion a year ago.

The segment, which serves 7.9 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, collectively owns 51,000 megawatts of energy capacity.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company posted adjusted profit of $1.93 per share for the three months ended March 31, compared with estimates of $1.87.

In April, Duke Energy sought approval from North Carolina regulators to raise rates to recoup more than $800 million in higher purchase costs incurred during an extreme winter cold snap.

The company had said it aimed to recover about $500 million at Duke Energy Carolinas and $309 million at Duke Energy Progress. The moves, if approved, would increase average monthly bills by roughly $6.90 and $7.88, respectively, starting June 1.