US utilities FirstEnergy and Xcel Energy announce $70 billion investment plans to meet data‑center demand

FirstEnergy Corp reaffirmed its 2026 earnings outlook, maintaining a $6 billion capital‑investment plan and a five‑year, $36 billion capital plan. The utility reported second‑quarter earnings in line with expectations and highlighted a 30% rise in forecasted data‑center demand, bringing contracted demand to 6.4 GW with an additional 1.5 GW expected soon.

Xcel Energy outlined a $60 billion base capital plan for 2026‑2030, with a $10 billion line‑of‑sight for further projects. The plan includes 11.4 GW of renewable generation, 3.4 GW of gas generation, 2.2 GW of storage, new transmission lines, and $5 billion for wildfire mitigation. Xcel expects to add roughly 3 GW of data‑center capacity to its pipeline, which already exceeds 20 GW, with 2 GW contracted and 4 GW projected by the end of 2027. Both companies noted modest year‑to‑date sales growth on a weather‑adjusted basis.