CenterPoint increases capital plan to $52.5 billion amid rising data center demand

May 27 (Reuters) - CenterPoint Energy CNP.N on Tuesday increased its 10-year capital expenditure plan to $52.5 billion through 2030, up from $48.5 billion, to cater to anticipated demand from artificial intelligence data centers, the utility said on Tuesday.

U.S. power companies are significantly increasing their capital expenditure budgets as they manage soaring requests for additional power capacity from Big Tech firms scouting the nation for optimal locations to build new data centers.

In February, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast that power demand would hit record highs in 2025 and 2026.

CenterPoint added that it intends to spend $4 billion in new projects to support its growth in Texas.

In April, the company had said that new connection requests had surged by nearly 7 gigawatts since the end of January, strengthening its confidence "in the robust economic outlook for (Texas)".

Additionally, CenterPoint plans to sell its Ohio local gas distribution company assets to optimize its capital portfolio.

The company provides electricity and natural gas to more than 7 million customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas.