April 23 (Reuters) - Utility PG&E Corp PCG.N beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by higher rates for its services and robust demand for power.

Shares of the company surged 2.4% in premarket trading.

AI-driven data centers and the broader electrification of homes and businesses is expected to push U.S. power demand to record levels in 2026, supporting new customer connections and data center projects in PG&E's service area.

The S&P 500 Utilities Index .SPLRCU gained 7.5% in the first quarter, notching its strongest opening stretch since the first quarter of 2019, according to LSEG data, driven by optimism around firms building out AI-infrastructure.

PG&E said its service territory now has 4.6 gigawatts of data center projects in final engineering phase, compared with 3.6 GW by end of the December quarter.

Although utilities have been benefiting from the proliferation of data centers, there are concerns that it may raise costs for residential customers.

PG&E said that every 1 GW of new data center load could save 1% or more on monthly electric bills in the long term.

The utility's quarterly results were also driven by higher rates following a favorable decision in a rate case proceeding, which is used to determine customer charges for services such as electricity and natural gas.

PG&E is the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, an energy company that serves 16 million Californians across a 70,000-square-mile service area in Northern and Central California.

The Oakland, California-based utility said net income jumped 41.3% to $858 million, from a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, PG&E reported a quarterly profit of 43 cents per share, beating analysts' estimate of 40 cents per share.