Feb 20 (Reuters) - PPL Corp ( PPL ) on Friday forecast

annual profit below expectations, but raised its four-year

capital spending plan by 15% as the utility prepares to meet

surging power demand ​from data centers.

U.S. utilities have been ‌adding billions of dollars to their

capital expenditure budgets as they face extreme weather ⁠while

also fielding massive requests for new power capacity driven ⁠by

data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence and

cryptocurrency.

PPL ‌said it expects ‌to spend $23 billion from 2026 through

2029 in capital investments to build new ​generation capacity and

expand transmission networks. ‌This compares with its prior

four-year capital budget of $20 billion through 2028.

However, as utilities beef up spending ​on power plants,

cables and other ​electrical ‌infrastructure to meet demand,

concerns are growing about rising customer power bills.

CEO Vincent Sorgi on Friday said he expects ⁠the company's

joint venture with Blackstone Infrastructure to lower wholesale

electricity ⁠costs for its customers and build new generation

resources in the PJM market.

Last year, PPL formed a joint venture with Blackstone

Infrastructure to build natural gas plants to power data ⁠centers

under ‌long-term energy services agreements.

Sorgi said the utility would ‌focus on ensuring utility bills

are affordable, which includes "connecting large loads ⁠to

transmission networks and developing new large-load tariffs to

protect and ultimately lower transmission costs for other

customers."

Shares of the utility fell over 2% in premarket trading.

The Allentown, Pennsylvania-based company said it expects

adjusted profit per share in the range of $1.90 to $1.98 in

2026, the midpoint of ​which missed analysts' estimates of $1.95,

according to data compiled by LSEG.

Adjusted profit for the fourth quarter came in at 41 ​cents

per share, in line with ‌analysts' expectations.