Rewrites to focus on data center pipeline

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Evergy Inc's EVRG.O pipeline of potential very large electricity customers, like data centers, has grown to 11.2 gigawatts (GW), which is more than the utility's current total maximum demand, executives said on Thursday.

To meet the increase in power demand, Evergy, which covers Midwestern states Missouri and Kansas, said it has increased its capital expenditure plan from 2025 to 2029 by 8% to $17.5 billion.

Demand for data centers needed for artificial intelligence and cloud computing has driven up U.S. power demand after a roughly two-decade lull, with the country's electricity use expected to reach record highs this year.

Evergy has secured customers including Google GOOGL.O, Meta META.O and Panasonic 6752.T for data centers and advanced manufacturing, totaling 800 megawatts.

Evergy is finalizing agreements with another 1.6 GW of the pipeline. It is in advanced discussions with 2.9 GW of potential customers, and another 6 GW are in inquiry mode.

"They're interested in knowing that we have the capacity to serve them," said Evergy CEO David Campbell. "They want to move quickly."

Evergy is in the process of building its first natural gas-fired power plants in more than a decade and its first large-scale solar farm to increase its system's power generating capacity.

The company missed fourth-quarter profit estimates on Thursday, as the power company was hurt by higher operating and interest expenses.

Higher-for-longer interest rates push up borrowing costs for utility companies such as Evergy, which typically need more capital for expenses such as maintaining the grid.

The company's total operating expenses in the quarter rose 2.8% from a year ago to $1.04 billion, and interest costs rose to $142.4 million from $132.2 million a year ago.

But total retail sales for the fourth-quarter were up 5.4% from a year earlier to $1.04 billion, led by an uptick in residential consumption. As a result, overall revenue rose 6% to $1.26 billion.

Evergy provides power to 1.7 million customers in Kansas and Missouri through its operating subsidiaries Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York and Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Marguerita Choy)

((Laila.kearney@thomsonreuters.com))