Vistra Corp on Thursday forecast 2026 adjusted core profit higher than its outlook for the current year, signaling confidence in its growing power generation portfolio and strong demand across U.S. ma... ...

Summary of Key Points from the Conference Call Industry Overview - The report focuses on the power demand growth in Developed Markets (DMs) such as the US and EU, and Emerging Markets (EMs) including China and India, with a specific emphasis on the impact of data centers on power demand growth [3][4]. Core Insights and Arguments - **Narrowing Gap in Power Demand Growth**: The US is expected to narrow the power demand growth gap with EMs by 2025, primarily due to the scaling up of data centers [3]. - **Power Demand Growth Rates**: - In 2025, weather-adjusted power demand growth is projected at 2.9% for the US, compared to 2.9% and 3.8% for China and India, respectively, which have seen a slowdown from previous years [3]. - The gap relative to GDP growth for China and India is expected to widen, indicating weaker industrial power demand growth influenced by US tariffs and China's anti-involution policies [3]. - **Data Centers' Contribution**: Data centers are projected to contribute 1.2 percentage points to the average total US power demand growth of 2.6% through 2030, which may continue to narrow the gap between DM and EM power demand growth rates [3][4]. - **Regional Power Market Tightness**: Rapid growth in power demand in the US is expected to tighten local power markets, particularly in major regions, which could constrain future data center and total power demand growth until infrastructure bottlenecks are resolved [4]. Additional Important Insights - **Weather Impact**: The mild weather conditions in China and India during the past winter and summer may not have been fully accounted for in the weather-adjusted data, potentially affecting the accuracy of the growth projections [3]. - **Historical Context**: The report notes that the current strength in US power demand growth exceeding GDP growth is a rare occurrence in recent decades, highlighting a significant shift in the energy landscape [3]. - **Data Center Capacity**: The US holds the largest data center capacity globally, accounting for 44% of the world's total, which significantly influences its power demand share [3][4]. This summary encapsulates the critical insights from the conference call, focusing on the dynamics of power demand growth across different markets and the implications of data center expansion.

Investment Rating - The report indicates a solid outlook for US power demand, with a year-over-year growth rate of 3.9% projected for 1Q2025, compared to a historical average of 1.0% over the past two decades [5]. Core Insights - US power demand growth remains robust despite macroeconomic uncertainties, with both bottom-up and top-down analyses supporting this conclusion [5]. - The average year-over-year growth rate for power sales in the US for 1Q2025 is reported at 2.0%, with a median of 1.8%, after adjustments for weather and leap years [5]. - The top-down approach indicates a significant increase in total power demand, highlighting a divergence from the bottom-up approach due to the sample size of utilities covered [9]. Summary by Sections Bottom-Up Analysis - The bottom-up approach utilized earnings reports from various US power utilities, adjusting for weather and leap-year effects to derive a growth rate of 2.0% [5]. - Utilities such as Xcel Energy (XEL) and WEC Energy Group (WEC) reported demand growth in line with their annual expectations, with XEL maintaining a 3% growth forecast for retail sales in 2025 [9]. Top-Down Analysis - The top-down analysis, based on EIA data, shows a year-over-year growth rate of 3.9% for total US power demand in 1Q2025, significantly higher than the historical average [5]. - The report notes that the differences between the two approaches may stem from the sample of utilities representing only 25-30% of overall US power sales, as well as varying weather adjustment methodologies [9]. Regional Insights - The report emphasizes that regional variations in demand can be significant, and the national weather-adjustment methodology may overestimate demand during extreme weather events [9]. - Large load customers are expected to continue driving demand, while residential demand is anticipated to grow due to customer increases and higher usage [9].