Feb 20 (Reuters) - CenterPoint Energy ( CNP ) on

Thursday increased its capital expenditure plan by $500 million

to strengthen its electricity grid to handle the surging demand

for power from new data centers coming up across the country.

Power demand from data centers in the U.S. is expected to

nearly triple in the next three years and consume as much as 12%

of the country's electricity, according to a study by Lawrence

Berkeley National Laboratory.

CenterPoint expects demand to grow nearly 50% by 2031 in the

Houston electric service territory, and on Thursday increased

its 10-year capital plan through 2030 to $47.5 billion to

improve the resilience its grid in the region.

The company's peers Dominion Energy ( D ), Duke Energy ( DUK )

and DTE Energy ( DTE ) have also raised their respective

capital expenditure plans in the last month to accommodate the

rising power demand from data centers.

Utilities were among the biggest winners in the S&P 500 last

year on expectations of surging demand from data centers. The

S&P index tracking utilities rose 19.6% in 2024.

The energy delivery company also reaffirmed its 2025 profit

forecast between $1.74 and $1.76 per share after meeting Wall

Street expectations for fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 40

cents per share.

The company's quarterly net income rose to $248 million, or

$38 cents per share, from $192 million, or 30 cents per share, a

year ago.