April 30 (Reuters) - Electric and gas utility PPL

has signed several energy supply agreements in

Pennsylvania, it said on Wednesday, betting on robust power

demand from data centers despite a recent pullback in artificial

intelligence spending by U.S. tech firms.

U.S. electric utilities have been fielding massive requests

for new power capacity as Big Tech scours the country for viable

locations for data centers that can support complex tasks.

PPL said it has nearly 11 gigawatts of data-center projects

in advanced stages of planning in Pennsylvania, up from nearly 9

GW in the preceding quarter.

"We don't really control the timing of when the data centers

want to make those announcements. (But) We've got to the point

where we signed agreements, so it'll just be a matter of time

before those counterparties make their's public," a senior

company executive said during a post-earnings call.

The company has the authorization to start spending money to

connect these data centers to the grids and expects potential

capital investment of $700 million to $850 million.

Some of these projects have progressed to fully executed

contracts and PPL said it has structured agreements to include

minimum load commitments for the data centers to reduce the risk

to its other power customers.

PPL also reported better-than-expected results for the first

quarter, helped by favorable weather conditions and higher

transmission supply rates in Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

The company posted an adjusted profit of 60 cents per share

during the quarter, compared with analysts' average estimate of

54 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It expects minimal tariff impact on its earnings but

foresees potential effects on its capital investments.