TC Energy on Thursday beat second-quarter profit estimates and approved pipeline expansion projects worth about C$700 million ($498.36 million) across North America, including two U.S. projects aimed at meeting the rising demand from power generation.
Surging electricity consumption, particularly from AI-driven data centres, has been boosting demand for natural gas-fired power plants, prompting pipeline operators such as TC Energy to invest in capacity expansions.
The Canadian pipeline operator plans to invest about $300 million in the Central Virginia project to add up to 0.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfpd) of capacity on the Columbia Gas system.
It will invest about $100 million in the Clark project to provide up to 0.3 bcfpd of transportation capacity on the Columbia Gulf system for an existing gas-fired power plant.
The company also approved about C$100 million of expansion facilities on its NGTL natural gas pipeline system in Canada.
The NGTL and Clark projects are expected to enter service in 2028, while the Central Virginia project has in-service dates of 2028 and 2030.
STRONG PIPELINE PERFORMANCE
TC Energy’s second-quarter adjusted earnings of 94 Canadian cents per share topped analysts’ average estimate of 83 Canadian cents, according to data compiled by LSEG, driven by strong performance in the company’s North American operations.
Adjusted core profit from TC Energy’s U.S. natural gas pipelines business, its largest segment, rose about 11.8% to C$1.22 billion in the second quarter from a year earlier.
Quarterly profit from its Canadian natural gas pipelines business increased about 4.1% to C$961 million. Adjusted core profit from its Mexican natural gas pipelines business climbed about 28.2% to C$409 million.
The company expects its adjusted core profit for 2026 at the upper end of its $11.6 billion to $11.8 billion forecast.
Canadian natural gas pipeline deliveries averaged 24.2 bcfpd during the quarter, up 1% from a year earlier. U.S. pipeline flows rose 5% to 27 bcfpd, while deliveries to LNG facilities jumped 13% to 3.9 bcfpd.
(Reporting by Sumit Saha in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)