Aug 6 (Reuters) - NRG Energy NRG.N beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the utility got a boost from surging power demand and improved retail margins in its Texas unit.

The company also entered into a 295 megawatt long-term retail deal to power data centers constructed on two NRG-owned sites in Texas, with a potential to expand to about 1 gigawatt across additional sites.

NRG is positioned to benefit from surging electricity demand in Texas, driven in part by a boom in data centers, which require steady, large-scale power supplies to support artificial intelligence and cloud computing operations.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration $(EIA)$ said in April that power consumption in the country is expected to reach record highs in 2025 and 2026.

NRG added that it plans to return $1.3 billion to shareholders and about $345 million in common stock dividends in 2025 as part of its previously announced 2025 capital allocation plan.

The company's Texas unit posted an adjusted core profit of $512 million, up form last year's $452 million.

NRG's operating expenses rose to $6.74 billion in the quarter ended June 30, from $5.25 billion a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, the company posted a profit of $1.73 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.56, according to data compiled by LSEG.

NRG reaffirmed its current-year adjusted profit forecast of $6.75 to $7.75 per share.

(Reporting by Pranav Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

((Pranav.Mathur@thomsonreuters.com;))