U.S. utility giant Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) reported on Tuesday consensus-beating earnings for the first quarter as higher rates and a colder winter boosted sales and demand for electricity and gas.
North Carolina-based Duke Energy – which serves 8.2 million electric utility customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky – booked adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.76 for the first quarter of the year. This is higher compared to the adjusted EPS of $1.44 for the first quarter of 2024 and above the analyst consensus estimate of $1.60 compiled by The Wall Street Journal.
“Higher first-quarter 2025 adjusted results were driven by higher retail sales volumes and implementation of new rates and riders as well as improved weather, partially offset by higher interest expense and O&M expenses,” Duke Energy said.
Total operating revenues of $8.249 billion also beat the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion.
Duke Energy reaffirmed today its 2025 adjusted EPS guidance range of $6.17 to $6.42 and long-term adjusted EPS growth rate of 5% to 7% through 2029 off the 2025 midpoint of $6.30.
“The fundamentals of the company are stronger than ever, positioning us extraordinarily well to meet our customers’ growing and evolving energy demands – now and into the future,” said Harry Sideris, Duke Energy president and chief executive officer.
Major U.S. electric utilities are making the case for higher rates to offset increased spending on infrastructure. In recent months, U.S. power utilities have announced billions of U.S. dollars in capital plans for the next few years and are getting a lot of requests from Big Tech for new power capacity in certain areas to meet soaring demand from the AI boom.
So great is electricity consumption from data centers that U.S. utilities and regulators have raised significantly their forecasts for peak power demand in the coming decade. Utilities are raising capital investments in view of meeting data center power demand, and are noting that requests for interconnection and transmission have spiked over the past year.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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