Marina
Despite facing operational challenges in the first quarter of 2025, both Evergy and Black Hills Energy have reaffirmed their full-year earnings guidance, signaling confidence in their strategic growth plans and infrastructure investments.
Evergy’s Q1 2025 Performance and Strategic Initiatives
Financial Highlights
- Adjusted Earnings: $125.0 million
- Adjusted EPS: $0.54 per share
- Q1 2025 EPS Guidance: Reaffirmed at $3.92 to $4.12
- Long-Term EPS Growth Target: 4% to 6% through 2029
Evergy’s first-quarter earnings were impacted by two significant snow events and an unplanned outage at a major industrial customer’s facility.
These factors led to a 3% decrease in weather-normalized demand, despite a 2.7% increase in total demand. Nevertheless, the company remains on track to meet its 2025 adjusted EPS guidance of $3.92 to $4.12.
Strategic Developments
Evergy is actively pursuing infrastructure enhancements to support future growth:
- Infrastructure Investments: Applications submitted to the Kansas Corporation Commission for two new natural gas plants and a solar power facility.
- Data Center Expansion: Engaged in final-stage negotiations with two large customers for data center projects totaling 1.3 gigawatts of load.
- Legislative Support: Benefiting from supportive legislation in Kansas and Missouri that encourages infrastructure investment and economic development.
Black Hills Energy’s Q1 2025 Performance and Growth Strategies
Financial Highlights
- Revenue: $805.2 million (10.8% increase year-over-year)
- Operating Income: $205.0 million (6.1% increase year-over-year)
- Net Income Available for Common Stock: $134.3 million
- EPS: $1.87 per share (unchanged from Q1 2024)
- 2025 EPS Guidance: Reaffirmed at $4.00 to $4.20
- Long-Term EPS Growth Target: 4% to 6%
Black Hills Energy’s steady earnings reflect the positive impact of new rates, rider recovery, and favorable weather, which offset higher operating expenses and increased financing costs.
Strategic Developments
The company is focused on several key initiatives to drive future growth:
- Ready Wyoming Project: A 260-mile, $350 million electric transmission expansion in Wyoming, with all regulatory approvals and rights-of-way secured, expected to be in service by year-end 2025.
- Data Center Demand: Serving new all-time peak load in Wyoming Electric, reflecting a nearly 10% increase over 2024, driven by data center and blockchain growth.
- Regulatory Progress: Implemented new electric rates in Colorado, filed new gas rate reviews in Nebraska and Kansas, collectively seeking over $50 million in new annual revenues.
- Wildfire Mitigation: Wyoming enacted legislation providing liability protections for utilities following approved wildfire mitigation plans.
Comparative Overview
| Metric | Evergy | Black Hills Energy |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted EPS (Q1 2025) | $0.54 | $1.87 |
| 2025 EPS Guidance | $3.92 to $4.12 | $4.00 to $4.20 |
| Long-Term EPS Growth Target | 4% to 6% through 2029 | 4% to 6% |
| Infrastructure Investments | Natural gas and solar plants | Transmission expansion (Ready Wyoming) |
| Data Center Projects | 1.3 GW under negotiation | Peak load increase driven by data centers |
| Regulatory Initiatives | Supportive legislation in KS and MO | Rate reviews in CO, NE, and KS |
| Wildfire Mitigation | N/A | Liability protections enacted in WY |
Both Evergy and Black Hills Energy have demonstrated resilience in the face of operational challenges, maintaining their earnings guidance for 2025.
Their strategic investments in infrastructure and focus on emerging opportunities, such as data center expansion, position them well for sustained growth.
Supportive regulatory environments further bolster their long-term outlooks, making them noteworthy players in the energy sector.