TeraWulf doubles Muskie power agreement to 1 GW, plans 2029 delivery
The second 500 MW phase is now planned for 2029, but Kentucky commission approval and the utility's construction schedule still govern delivery.
Julian Okafor
An extra 500 megawatts of promised electricity has moved the timetable for an eastern Kentucky AI campus forward, although the new delivery year depends on state approval. TeraWulf Inc. NASDAQWULF, the U.S. data centre developer and bitcoin miner, said on Oct. 5 it amended its electric service agreement with Kentucky Power to raise contracted capacity to one gigawatt. The utility is developing a substation to serve Muskie.
Muskie's second 500 MW phase is now planned for 2029, a year earlier than TeraWulf's May timetable. The first 500 MW remains targeted to begin ramping in 2028. The Oct. 5 release makes second-phase delivery conditional on Kentucky Public Service Commission approval and the utility's construction schedule.
TeraWulf shares closed at US$15.49 on Nasdaq at 4 p.m. EDT on Oct. 2, according to its NASDAQWULF quote at that time. That close preceded Monday's announcement and cannot show a market reaction to the larger agreement.
The Oct. 5 release gives neither a Muskie customer contract nor a lease price. It also leaves the cost of the added electrical infrastructure and a commission decision date undisclosed. The company calls the 1 GW contracted power; the amended agreement itself was not attached to the announcement.
Muskie's Second Phase Moves Ahead One Year
The May 26 acquisition announcement targeted the initial 500 MW ramp for the second half of 2028. It placed the next 500 MW in the second half of 2030. Monday's announcement retains the 2028 target and moves the later phase to 2029 without naming a month or quarter. The May release described 285 acres of owned or controlled land inside the 1,000-acre EastPark industrial park.
TeraWulf says Kentucky Power is developing a 765-kV / 345-kV substation tied to a regional transmission network to serve Muskie. Its May release said transmission infrastructure and energy service agreements were executed when it acquired the site. Monday's announcement reports an amendment to the electric service agreement; it does not say the substation is complete or give a construction completion date.
"Securing the next 500 MW and moving its planned delivery into 2029 gives us greater flexibility to meet prospective customers’ deployment needs," TeraWulf chairman and chief executive Paul Prager said in the Oct. 5 release.
Prager's reference to prospective customers does not establish a signed Muskie lease, and Monday's announcement names no tenant or minimum rent. TeraWulf says the campus could eventually support up to 2 GW, subject to additional utility planning, infrastructure and agreements. That larger possibility sits outside the 1 GW of contracted power reported on Oct. 5.
Muskie Delivery Depends On Kentucky Approval
The company says the second phase needs Kentucky Public Service Commission approval as well as construction by Kentucky Power. Its release gives no Muskie commission filing number or decision date. It also says development will proceed under the governor's Executive Order 2026-494 on data centre development without describing that order's individual requirements.
In an Aug. 21 final order on TeraWulf's separate Justified campus in Hancock County, the commission approved an electric service agreement with a 482 MW maximum contract demand. The order describes market-based pass-through power charges and a minimum demand obligation for the agreement's first six years. That decision concerns Justified; Muskie's amended agreement still faces the approval condition disclosed on Oct. 5.
The Justified order examined how the project's costs and risks would be allocated before the commission approved the retail electric service agreement. At Muskie, TeraWulf says its arrangement provides financial protection for utility investment, but its Oct. 5 release discloses no security amount, rate schedule or construction milestone. Holders cannot calculate Muskie's contracted power cost or potential lease return from the megawatt figure alone.
QumulusAI Has Customer Handoffs On The Calendar
QumulusAI Inc. NASDAQQMLS, the Atlanta provider of rented AI computing capacity, said on Sept. 29 that it signed US$240.9 million in three-year customer contracts. It expects to hand over capacity for one customer in December 2026 and another in early 2027. Mugglehead's earlier account of those handoffs describes the delivery test behind that announced value; TeraWulf's October announcement instead gives a utility power timetable without a Muskie customer contract.
Read more: QumulusAI signs US$240.9M GPU contracts with December capacity handoff
The first dated Muskie milestone remains the initial 500 MW ramp targeted for 2028. Kentucky commission approval and Kentucky Power's construction schedule must support the newly advanced 2029 target for the second 500 MW.
