Aug 2 (Reuters) - Ameren Corp (AEE.N) , opens new tab has agreed to power a data center with a capacity of 250 megawatt, a move that would boost its sales, the public utility firm said on Friday.

The agreement would represent about 40% and 5% annualized increase to subsidiary Ameren Missouri's industrial megawatt (MW) hour sales and total megawatt hour sales, respectively, CEO Martin Lyons told analysts during a post-earnings call on Friday.

Many tech-focused companies are turning to utilities to help power data centers, which support technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Ameren has also received expansion commitments and executed new contracts for over 85 MW of additional load for smaller data centers and other industries, across Missouri and Illinois.

"We have seen a significant increase in the number of data center inquiries and formal engineering reviews are underway, which would represent thousands of megawatts of additional demand," Lyon said.

The St. Louis, Missouri-based firm posted profit of $258 million or 97 cents per share on Thursday, compared to $237 million or 90 cents per share, last year.

The utility benefited from an increase in electric retail sales, as customers cranked up their cooling appliances to deal with hot weather.

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https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ameren-inks-250-mw-power-supply-deal-data-center-2024-08-02/