Feb 20 (Reuters) - Utility firm Alliant Energy ( LNT ) beat fourth-quarter profit

estimates on Thursday, helped by higher electricity rates.

Regulated utilities use rate case proceedings to seek rate increases, basing their appeals

on their investments or expenses incurred in delivering services.

Quarterly adjusted profit from its Interstate Power and Light Company unit almost tripled to

$101 million from a year earlier, after it received an order from the Iowa Utilities Commission

(IUC) authorizing annual base rate increases.

Alliant serves roughly 1 million electric and 427,000 natural gas customers in Iowa and

Wisconsin.

Last year, the utility firm said it executed multiple power supply deals with data centers

in Iowa and Wisconsin.

The increasing popularity of advanced artificial intelligence tools, such as OpenAI's

ChatGPT, has led to a growing need for high-performance data centers capable of processing the

vast amounts of data required to handle large volumes of information, boosting demand for

electricity.

The company reported an adjusted profit of 70 cents per share for the quarter ended December

31, compared with the analysts' average estimate of 68 cents per share, according to data

compiled by LSEG.