May 7 (Reuters) - Sempra SRE.N narrowly missed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Thursday, as lower natural gas sales and weaker revenue at its California utilities outweighed gains from its Texas utility and infrastructure businesses.

Utilities are ramping up investments to expand power grids and energy infrastructure to meet surging demand from AI and crypto data centers and broader industrial growth, while they navigate higher borrowing costs, regulatory scrutiny and volatile energy markets.

The company said it spent about $3 billion on capital expenditure during the quarter, part of its 2026-2030 capital plan of about $65 billion, with roughly 95% allocated to its utility businesses in Texas and California.

In April, Texas regulators approved a base-rate settlement for Sempra's Oncor Electric Delivery, enabling updated billing rates and supporting future investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Oncor said the first-quarter accounting impact related to the settlement was expected to boost second-quarter earnings by about $70 million.

Sempra said its regulated utility Oncor has earmarked nearly $9 billion for capital expenditure this year, up 25% from its 2025 spending, to address sustained load growth and expanding system requirements.

Sempra's total quarterly revenue fell to $3.66 billion from $3.80 billion a year earlier, hurt by lower natural gas sales at its California utilities business.

The California business recorded earnings of $720 million for the quarter, down from $724 million in the year-ago period, while earnings at its Texas utilities rose to $171 million from $146 million in the prior year.

It posted an adjusted profit of $1.51 per share for the three months ended March 31, missing analysts' average estimate by one cent, according to data compiled by LSEG.