May 6 (Reuters) - U.S. utility Exelon EXC.O surpassed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter adjusted profit on Wednesday, driven by higher electricity prices, robust demand and favorable weather.

Power companies across the U.S. are raising prices and stepping up capital expenditure to boost infrastructure as they keep pace with the surge in demand from tech giants rapidly building out data centers for complex artificial intelligence-related tasks.

Regulated utilities rely on rate-case processes to determine how much customers are charged for electricity, natural gas and services such as private water and steam.

Exelon, which serves more than 10.7 million customers through six fully regulated transmission and distribution utilities, projected $41.7 billion of capital expenditure over the next four years, from $41.3 billion previously.

This is expected to increase the utility's regulated asset base by 7.9%.

Net income at its Commonwealth Edison unit (ComEd), Illinois' largest electric utility, rose slightly to $310 million.

Earnings at Exelon's PECO unit, Pennsylvania's largest electric and natural gas utility, rose 4.5% to $278 million.

Exelon reaffirmed its 2026 adjusted profit guidance in the range of $2.81 and $2.91 per share.

The Chicago-based company posted an adjusted profit of 91 cents per share for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of 89 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.