Aug 7 (Reuters) - Vistra Corp VST.N reported a fall in second-quarter profit on Thursday, weighed on by higher operating and interest costs, sending its shares down about 6% in premarket trading.

Continued higher-for-longer interest rates can weigh on utilities as it makes investing in the construction and maintenance of critical infrastructure such as electrical grids more expensive.

The company's interest costs rose 25.7% to $303 million in the reported quarter, while total operating expenses increased about 17% to $733 million.

Its adjusted core profit from ongoing operations dropped to $1.35 billion from $1.41 billion, a year earlier, hurt by plant outages.

In May, Vistra acquired seven natural gas generation facilities, with a combined capacity of nearly 2,600 megawatt, for $1.9 billion, and in July received approval from the U.S. nuclear regulator to extend operations at the Perry power plant through 2046, as it looks to meet growing power demand.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates electricity consumption in the country to reach record highs in 2025 and 2026, driven by surging demand from data centers looking to match Big Tech's AI ambitions.

Vistra reaffirmed current-year adjusted core profit from continuing operations of $5.5 billion to $6.1 billion, compared with the analysts' estimate of $5.9 billion.

The Irving, Texas-based company posted a net income of $327 million, for the three months ended June 30, compared with $467 million, a year ago.

(Reporting by Sumit Saha in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

((Sumit.Saha@thomsonreuters.com;))