UPDATE 2-Dominion planning to power 15 more data centers in 2024

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Receiving bigger power requests from data center developers

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Moving forward with Virginia offshore wind despite lawsuit

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Net income 78 cents per share in Q1, down from year ago $1.15

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Sticks with 2024 operating EPS forecast range of $2.62 to $2.87.

(Adds data center details and executive quotes in paragraphs 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9. Adds offshore wind details in paragraph 11)

May 2 (Reuters) -

Dominion Energy expects to service 15 more data centers through the end of 2024 as the utility receives bigger power requests from computer warehouse developers, executives said on Thursday.

Dominion's service territory includes northern Virginia, which includes a cluster of counties that hold the world's largest concentration of data centers.

"The way data centers are ramping up is faster than they have before and their requests are bigger than they've been before," Dominion CEO Robert Blue said, adding that his company has connected 94 gigawatts of data center capacity in the past five years.

Data centers are computer warehouses, which are increasingly used for generative artificial intelligence, that consume vast amounts of electricity for their high-intensity computing and cooling systems.

After historically requesting electricity capacity demand of about 30 megawatts (MW), data center developers are now requesting two to three times that amount, Dominion executives said on a call following first quarter earnings.

Projects with multiple data centers can require several gigawatts of capacity. A single gigawatt can power about 750,000 homes.

Data centers used to typically take four to five years to ramp up to the full capacity they had contracted for with Dominion, Chief Operating Officer Diane Leopold said. Currently, full capacity could be reached in closer to two or three years, she said.

Data centers, which are driving U.S. electricity consumption out of a roughly two-decade lull, have recently come under scrutiny for their

voracious energy appetite

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The proliferation of the centers has threatened to destabilize power grids and result in the prolonged use of carbon-emitting power sources like coal and natural gas, which can provide around-the-clock power in the way renewable sources like wind and solar cannot.

In its renewable energy plans, Dominion said it is moving forward with its Virginia offshore windfarm on time and on budget despite a recent lawsuit over environmental concerns, including the threat the project may have to whales and other marine wildlife.

The roughly 2,600-MW

offshore wind development

is 28% complete and recently received its 11th and final federal permit, executives said. Construction on the in-water and onshore part of the project is ongoing, with the installation of monopiles expected to begin next week.

The company reported an unfavorable weather impact of 6 cents per share on its utility earnings for the first quarter. It also said its interest and related charges rose nearly 20% to $574 million in the quarter, from $479 million a year earlier.

Interest rates in the U.S. have been at multi-decade highs since hikes began in 2023, leading to a higher cost of borrowing.

Dominion, which has about 6 million customers in 15 states, reported a net income of $674 million, or 78 cents per share, from $981 million, or $1.15 per share in the first quarter a year earlier.

Its operating revenue also fell to $3.63 billion, compared with $3.88 billion a year earlier.

The Richmond, Virginia-based company reaffirmed its 2024 operating earnings per share forecast in the range of $2.62 to $2.87. (Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York and Roshia Sabu in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Elaine Hardcastle and Marguerita Choy)