FirstEnergy Core Earnings Slip as Data-Center Pipeline Expands
Contracted and prospective data-center demand climbed about 30% since March to 24.8 gigawatts.
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE), the electric utility, reported lower second-quarter core earnings as planned maintenance costs outweighed growth from transmission investments. Core earnings fell 3.8% to $0.50 a share from $0.52 a year earlier.
The decline reversed a 7.5% first-quarter increase and marked a slower earnings trajectory even as the company added data-center projects and expanded its transmission rate base. GAAP earnings rose 8.7% to $0.50 a share, compared with a 12.9% increase in the first quarter.
Revenue increased 8.8% to $3.7 billion from $3.4 billion a year earlier, easing from first-quarter growth of 10.5%. Revenue fell $500 million sequentially, while GAAP earnings declined $0.20 a share from the first quarter. For the first half, revenue rose 11.3% to $7.9 billion and core earnings increased to $1.22 a share from $1.19.
Distribution core earnings fell $0.06 a share from a year earlier as higher planned maintenance expenses more than offset benefits from rates and investments. Weather reduced results by $0.02 a share, partly countered by stronger weather-adjusted electricity demand. Integrated-segment core earnings were unchanged as maintenance costs absorbed the benefit of 22% transmission-rate-base growth.
Stand-Alone Transmission core earnings increased $0.04 a share to $0.17, supported by capital investment and an 11% expansion in its rate base. Across the business, the transmission rate base grew 14%, while year-to-date capital spending rose 19% to $2.9 billion. FirstEnergy remains on track to invest $6 billion in 2026.
FirstEnergy reiterated its 2026 core-earnings forecast of $2.62 to $2.82 a share and continues to target annual core-earnings growth near the top of a 6%-to-8% range through 2030. The company had also contracted 2.1 gigawatts of new data-center demand since April, lifting total contracted demand about 50% to 6.4 gigawatts.
Industrial electricity load increased 4% from the first quarter as manufacturing volumes rose across most sectors, while outage duration declined 12% from a year earlier. Data-center volumes are expected to begin materializing in the second half of 2026, leaving near-term earnings growth dependent on transmission investment and the conversion of its project pipeline into electricity demand.