Adds details from call in paragraph 1, 3 and 10

By Dharna Bafna

May 5 (Reuters) - Utility firm WEC Energy WEC.N reported a rise in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, supported by higher sales of power to residential and industrial customers, and said it was working with large hyperscale clients to serve potential load growth of up to 4 gigawatts.

U.S. power consumption is expected to rise further this year, after hitting its second straight annual record high in 2025, driven mainly by Big Techs' race to build energy-intensive data centers to support AI initiatives, and homes and businesses increasingly using electricity for heat and transportation.

WEC said on a post-earnings call it had received regulatory approval to buy three more solar projects and a battery storage project, with plans to invest $730 million.

Electricity usage from large commercial and industrial customers rose 2.7% during the quarter, while consumption among small commercial and industrial customers increased 0.7%, the company said.

Residential electricity usage edged up 0.2% from a year earlier, lifting total retail electricity deliveries by 1.3%, excluding sales to an iron ore mine.

WEC, which serves nearly 4.7 million electric and natural gas customers across Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota, said natural gas deliveries in Wisconsin fell 2.1% in the first quarter.

The company provides natural gas through its We Power and Wisconsin Public Service units.

"The continued execution of our capital plan and focus on operating efficiencies led to solid first-quarter results," said CEO Scott Lauber.

WEC had said in February it would raise capital spending by $1 billion over the next five years as it increases output to power Microsoft MSFT.O data centers.

The company also expects to add incremental capital spending to its plan in the third quarter.

The company's quarterly net income rose to $804.4 million, or $2.45 per share, from $724.2 million, or $2.27 per share, a year ago.