May 8 (Reuters) - Evergy Inc ( EVRG ) missed Wall Street

estimates for first-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the utility

was hurt by higher costs and lower demand due to an unplanned

maintenance shutdown by a large customer.

Higher-for-longer interest rates raise borrowing costs for

power companies, which usually need more capital for

maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure.

The company's interest expenses rose 14.5% to $152.5 million

in the quarter, while total operating expenses increased to

$1.08 billion.

Evergy ( EVRG ) also said its industrial demand decreased because an

unnamed large customer had an unplanned maintenance shutdown. It

said the customer is expected produce at near-normal levels this

month.

Still, Evergy's ( EVRG ) total revenue for the quarter rose 3.3% from

a year ago to $1.37 billion.

Its total retail sales for the first-quarter were up 1.6%

from a year earlier to $1.10 billion. A

colder-than-expected-winter increased electricity and gas

consumption during the quarter, as residences and businesses had

more heating demand.

Evergy ( EVRG ) said it expects strong commercial and industrial load

growth as Meta and Panasonic ( PCRFF ) ramp up

operations in the second half of this year.

Evergy ( EVRG ) said in February it has secured customers including

Google, Meta and Panasonic ( PCRFF ) for data centers and

advanced manufacturing.

The utility sees year-over-year load growth in the third

quarter and fourth quarter of 3% to 5% for commercial and 6% to

8% for industrial.

Evergy ( EVRG ) provides power to 1.7 million customers in Kansas and

Missouri through its operating subsidiaries Evergy Kansas

Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of 54

cents per share for the first quarter, missing analysts'

estimates of 66 cents per share, according to data compiled by

LSEG.

The company reaffirmed its annual forecast for adjusted

earnings of between $3.92 per share and $4.12 per share.