Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. utility Constellation Energy ( CEG )

beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on

Tuesday, benefiting from lower expenses and rising demand for

power.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects

power consumption to reach record highs in 2025, with demand

from data centers expected to nearly triple in the next three

years.

Driven by the unprecedented power demand, nuclear utilities

were among the biggest winners in the S&P 500 last year. The S&P

500 utilities sector rose 19.6% in 2024, while

Constellation Energy ( CEG ) rose 91.3%.

In January, Constellation, which operates 21 nuclear power

plants in the country, agreed to buy natural gas and geothermal

company Calpine Corp for $16.4 billion, marking one of the

biggest U.S. power industry acquisitions.

"Independent of our pending acquisition of Calpine,

Constellation will invest over $2.5 billion in 2025 to reliably

operate our business for the long-term and fund our growth

investments to help meet growing power demand," Constellation

CFO Dan Eggers said in a statement on Tuesday.

The utility forecast full-year adjusted operating earnings

in the range of $8.90 per share to $9.60 per share, while

analysts were expecting $9.17 per share, according to data

compiled by LSEG.

The company's total operating expenses fell 23.6% to $4.48

billion in the October-December quarter, from a year ago.

The Baltimore, Maryland-based utility posted adjusted

operating profit of $2.44 per share in the quarter ended

December 31, beating analysts' average estimate of $2.15 per

share.