TC Energy Targets US Data Centre Growth Surge

TC Energy Explores Opportunities in U.S. Data Centre Growth

Calgary-based pipeline and power company TC Energy Corp. is exploring ways to meet the rising electricity demand from U.S. data centres, but rather than building new infrastructure from scratch, the company is focusing on optimizing its existing systems. This approach allows TC Energy to capitalize on growth while managing risk effectively.

"我们的策略一直非常有意识地抓住这种增长，同时不增加我们的风险敞口，" CEO François Poirier told analysts during a conference call on Friday. "我们主要关注的是在现有走廊内的扩展，利用我们现有的基础设施，主要服务于投资级公用事业客户，特别是在我们拥有长期主导地位的地区。"

According to Poirier, TC's infrastructure is located near 60 per cent of projected U.S. data centre growth. The company has proposed an expansion of its Columbia Gas Transmission system to serve an area of Ohio that is experiencing significant development of data centres. These facilities, which house the computing power for artificial intelligence and other applications, require large amounts of energy to operate their machinery and maintain cooling systems.

During an open season that ended last month, TC offered customers a total of 500,000 mmbtu per day of capacity. The bids received were three times that amount. The company is also looking to expand its Crossroads Pipeline system by up to 1.5 million mmbtu per day, serving markets in northern Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota, where there is also significant anticipated data centre growth.

For potential power generation investments, TC is more interested in plants that would serve the overall grid rather than linking exclusively with a data centre customer. "We really are focusing in front of the meter with our utility customers," Poirier said. "To the extent a data centre wants to get service directly for gas and is willing to provide a long-term contract that is consistent with what we get from the utility customers, we will, of course, contemplate those. We're not looking at any power project development and ownership behind the meter at this time."

Another Canadian pipeline and utility giant, Enbridge Inc., also sees growth in the data centre space. The company plans to continue investing $3 billion annually in its natural gas utility business to meet surging demand. "Currently we're advancing over 50 potential data centre opportunities that could require up to (10 million mmbtu) per day of natural gas, and we expect to begin sanctioning these additional projects throughout 2026 and more in 2027," CEO Greg Ebel said during his company's fourth-quarter conference call on Friday.

Enbridge has also been directing some of its renewable energy portfolio toward data centre opportunities in the U.S., reaching offtake deals with companies like Meta Platforms Inc., the tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram.

TC Energy is projecting $6 billion in net annual capital expenditures through 2030, potentially higher towards the end of the decade. The company also anticipates North American natural gas demand will grow by 45 million mmbtu per day by 2035.

On the stock market, TC Energy shares finished up more than 3.5 per cent on the TSX on Friday at $86.52 after the company posted financial results that exceeded expectations. Earlier on Friday, TC reported fourth-quarter net income of $959 million, down from $1.07 billion in the same quarter the previous year. Earnings came out to 92 cents per share in the quarter ending December 31, down from $1.03 per share. Revenue totaled $4.17 billion for the quarter, up from $3.58 billion in the same quarter the year before.

TC says its comparable earnings amounted to 98 cents per share, down from $1.05 per share in the fourth quarter of 2024. Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 92 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG Data & Analytics.