Aug 1 (Reuters) - Exelon ( EXC ) beat Wall Street

estimates for second-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by

higher electricity rates and rising demand as the giant electric

utility grows its data center customer base.

U.S. power demand is expected to reach record highs this

year, driven by the proliferation of data centers across the

country amid an artificial intelligence boom.

Exelon's ( EXC ) operating revenue rose 11.3% to $5.36 billion

during the second quarter, as a heatwave swept across much of

the U.S. in June and propelled cooling demand.

Earnings for its Commonwealth Edison unit, the largest

electric utility in Illinois, rose 8.4% to $270 million.

The utility is in the engineering phase for more than 5

gigawatts of data center capacity, where developers of the giant

computer warehouses have paid the utility to start to engineer

their projects, ComEd CEO Gil Quiniones said on a conference

call. Some of those data center customers have taken further

steps by making deposits for ComEd to order transmission and

breakers.

The utility has another 13 GW of speculative data center

demand in Illinois.

"They are not yet in engineering but they are knocking

on our doors, making inquiries, very interested in coming to our

jurisdiction," said Quiniones said.

Higher demand and elevated electricity rates helped the

company to offset a 13.1% rise in interest expenses in the

second quarter. Higher interest rates in the U.S. have lifted

expenses for utility firms that typically spend heavily on

improving existing infrastructure.

The Chicago-based company posted adjusted operating earnings

of 47 cents per share compared with the average analyst estimate

of 40 cents, according to LSEG data.