May 6 (Reuters) - American Electric Power ( AEP ) beat

Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Tuesday,

benefiting from higher demand from commercial customers, and

said it expects minimal direct impact on its long-term spending

plan from tariffs.

Big Tech's massive investments into artificial intelligence

technologies and related infrastructure have fueled a surge in

demand for power, encouraging energy producers to ramp up

investments.

In February, AEP said it would boost its record $54 billion

five-year capital plan by $10 billion on demand for data centers

in the electric utility's Midwest and southern service areas.

"Our capital investments are key to enhancing reliability

and customer service and meeting the over 20 gigawatts of new

power demand we expect by the end of the decade," CEO Bill

Fehrman said in a statement.

"We have determined that the direct tariff exposure on our

$54 billion capital plan is minimal at about 0.3%."

In April, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

said U.S. power consumption will hit new record highs in 2025

and 2026, with demand rising to 4,201 billion kilowatt hours

(kWh) this year.

AEP said commercial load grew 12.3% in the reported quarter.

Operating earnings at its vertically integrated utilities

segment was $349.9 million, compared with $300.3 million a year

earlier.

The transmission and distribution utilities segment reported

operating earnings of $192.3 million, compared with $150.3

million.

AEP serves about 5.6 million customers in 11 states

including Texas, Ohio and Kentucky. It possesses the largest

electric transmission system in the U.S.

The utility reaffirmed its annual adjusted per share

earnings forecast of $5.75 to $5.95.

The Colombus, Ohio-based company posted an adjusted profit

of $1.54 per share for the three months ended March 31, beating

analysts' average estimate of $1.40, according to data compiled

by LSEG.