The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that TC Energy beat second-quarter profit estimates on Thursday and approved natural-gas-pipeline expansion projects worth about $700-million across North America, including two U.S. projects aimed at meeting the rising demand from power generation. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says surging electricity consumption, particularly from artificial-intelligence-driven data centres, has boosted demand for natural-gas-fired power plants, prompting pipeline operators such as TC Energy to expand capacity. The Calgary company forecasts about 1.4 billion cubic square metres a day of North American natural gas demand growth by 2035, up from a prior forecast of 1.3 bcsm. TC expects North American natural-gas-fired electricity generation to rise from a prior outlook of 1.5 bcsm to 1.7 bcsm by 2035, said Tina Faraca, TC's chief operating officer for natural gas pipelines. "Demand favours the U.S. heartland, Western Canada and Mexico, where we have incumbent positions," she said. TC Energy's Q2 adjusted earnings of 94 cents a share topped analysts' average estimate of 83 cents. Quarterly profit from its Canadian natural gas pipelines business increased 4.1 per cent to $961-million.