KEY POINTS
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TC Energy aims to tap soaring U.S. data center power demand mainly through brownfield, in-corridor expansions, focusing on serving investment-grade utilities in regions where it already holds long-standing, incumbent pipeline positions.
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It is proposing expansions on Columbia Gas Transmission in Ohio and up to 1.5 million MMBtu/day on Crossroads Pipeline in the Midwest, while ANR Pipeline underpins deliveries into key Midwest and Great Lakes markets.
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TC Energy plans about $6 billion in annual capital expenditures through 2030, anticipating North American gas demand growth of 45 million MMBtu/day by 2035.
Pipeline and power company TC Energy Corp. is looking to capitalize on the insatiable electricity demand from U.S. data centers, but it’s focused on tweaking its existing system to meet those needs instead of building from scratch.
“Our strategy has been very intentional to capture this growth without increasing our risk exposure,” CEO François Poirier told analysts on a recent conference call.
“Our primary focus is on brownfield in-corridor expansions that leverage our existing footprint to primarily serve investment-grade utility customers, particularly in regions where we hold long-standing incumbent positions.”
TC’s infrastructure is located near 60 per cent of projected U.S. data center growth, Poirier said.
TC has pitched an expansion to its Columbia Gas Transmission system to serve an area of Ohio that’s seeing significant development of data centers — the enormous facilities that house the computing firepower for artificial intelligence and other applications. Such operations require massive amounts of energy to run the machinery and keep them cool.
The Calgary-based company offered customers a total of 500,000 MMBtu per day of capacity during an open season that wrapped up last month. It garnered bids representing triple that amount.
TC is also looking to expand its Crossroads Pipeline system by up to 1.5 million MMBtu a day, serving markets in northern Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota, where significant anticipated data center growth is also expected.
ANR Pipeline Company, founded in 1945 as the Michigan-Wisconsin Pipe Line Company and now part of TC Energy, operates one of the largest interstate natural gas systems in the U.S., moving gas from Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana to the Midwest and Great Lakes region and connecting to major storage facilities in Michigan. Image: TC Energy
For potential power generation investments, TC is more interested in plants that would serve the overall grid instead of linking up exclusively with a data center customer.
“We really are focusing in front of the meter with our utility customers,” Poirier said.
“To the extent a data center wants to get service directly for gas and is willing to provide a long-term contract that is consistent with what we get from the utility customers, we will, of course, contemplate those. We’re not looking at any power project development and ownership behind the meter at this time.”
TC is projecting $6 billion in net annual capital expenditures through 2030 — possibly higher than that toward the end of the decade. It’s also anticipating that North American natural gas demand will grow by 45 million MMBtu a day by 2035.
TC also reported fourth-quarter net income of $959 million, down from $1.07 billion in the same quarter the year prior.
Earnings worked out to 92 cents per share in the quarter ending Dec. 31, down from $1.03 per share.
Revenue totalled $4.17 billion for the quarter, up from $3.58 billion in the same quarter the year before.
TC says its comparable earnings amounted to 98 cents per share, down from $1.05 per share in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 92 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG Data & Analytics.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
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