Aug 5 (Reuters) - Public Service Enterprise Group ( PEG )

on Tuesday beat second-quarter profit estimates, boosted

by higher electricity demand in June as homes and businesses

ramped up air conditioning during hot weather conditions.

Hotter-than-normal temperatures in June boosted power demand

at a time when utilities across the U.S. are already contending

with record usage tied to the growth of data centers and

electrification trends.

"We successfully operated through three consecutive days of

100°F temperatures, prompting high electricity usage that set a

summer peak load of 10,229 MW on June 24th, the highest system

load we have experienced since 2013," said Ralph LaRossa, PSEG's

CEO.

Total operating revenue rose about 15% to $2.8 billion in

the quarter.

The utility also reaffirmed its full-year operating earnings

forecast of $3.94 to $4.06 per share.

PSEG Power reported a second-quarter nuclear output of 7.5

terawatt hours, up from 0.5 TWh from last year, following a 2024

Hope Creek outage.

Nuclear energy, which is virtually carbon-free, has garnered

renewed interest from investors and companies, with Big Tech

increasingly signing power supply deals with nuclear power

plants.

PSEG said large load service inquiries, primarily from

existing and potential data center customers, surged to more

than 9,400 megawatts as of June 30, from 6,400 MW at the end of

March.

The company posted adjusted profit of 77 cents per share for

the three months ended June 30, compared with the analysts'

average estimate of 70 cents, according to data compiled by

LSEG.