(Reuters) -U.S. utility Exelon ( EXC ) surpassed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by higher electricity rates.

U.S. utilities, including Exelon ( EXC ), have been seeking to raise customer power bills to improve infrastructure, as the nation's electrical grids face extreme weather and rising demand due to industrial electrification and the expansion of data centers used for artificial intelligence technologies.

In February, Exelon ( EXC ) had said several of its rate cases came into effect at the start of the year, helping boost earnings for the first quarter. Regulated utilities use rate case proceedings to determine how much customers pay for their services.

The company said its total revenue rose 11% to $6.71 billion for the quarter ended March 31, beating analysts' expectations of $6.59 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

On an adjusted basis, the Chicago-based company posted an operating profit of 92 cents per share for the first quarter, compared with average analysts' estimate of 88 cents per share.

Exelon ( EXC ) serves more than 10.5 million customers in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland and other states through its six fully regulated transmission and distribution utilities.