Base Electron, run by Applied Digital's CEO, filed for an IPO five days after their power deal
Base Electron, the power developer run by Applied Digital's own chief executive, confidentially filed for a US IPO on October 9, five days after signing a 15-year deal to power Applied Digital's next campus. The developer can cancel the contract if the plant lacks financing by March 31, 2027.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
Base Electron, a Plano, Texas power-infrastructure firm, said on October 9 it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement for a US initial public offering; the share count and price range are undetermined 12. It was formed to supply power to Applied Digital's−1.09% — Applied Digital, down 1.09 percent today AI campuses 1. The filing lands five days after it signed a 15-year power contract with Applied Digital itself 3.
The seller can walk away in March
On October 4, Applied Digital signed that power purchase agreement, plus a related credit support agreement, buying capacity and energy from an approximately 1,200 MW natural gas plant in Center, North Dakota, dedicated to Polaris Forge 3 3. Base Electron may terminate the deal if financial close has not occurred by March 31, 2027 3. Neither filing discloses the price, the target capacity or the credit support terms 4. A public prospectus is the first document that would have to carry them.
The buyer and the seller share a chief executive
Wes Cummins is chief executive of both Applied Digital and Base Electron, and Applied Digital president Jason Zhang is Base Electron's president and secretary 3. Applied Digital owns about 10% of the developer, carried at $2.0 million, and is owed $59.3 million on a promissory note, for a stated maximum exposure to loss of $61.3 million 3. Its own filing calls Base Electron a variable interest entity lacking sufficient equity at risk to finance its activities 3. The IPO is that equity, raised from outside investors.
$7.5 billion of contracted revenue waits on a 2030 plant
Polaris Forge 3's two buildings, 300 MW, begin service in the second half of calendar 2027 4. The plant meant to power them targets commercial operation in 2030, a start its builder has already pushed back from 2029, on Babcock & Wilcox's $2.4 billion design-build contract, $2.0 billion of it variable charges 4. Nothing filed says what powers the campus in between 4. Applied Digital has 250 MW live against 1.41 GW leased, roughly $36 billion of contracted base-term revenue, $6.26 billion of long-term debt and $77.4 million of quarterly interest, up 866% in a year 56.
A fifth of Applied Digital's $36.2B backlog rides on Polaris Forge 3
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Polaris Forge 1 | $11B |
| Delta Forge 1 | $7.5B |
| Polaris Forge 3 | $7.5B |
| Delta Forge 2 | $5.2B |
| Polaris Forge 2 | $5B |
Owning the megawatts is the bull case
The bull case is Cummins' own: power remains the gating factor for AI infrastructure, and Base Electron could add multiple gigawatts in the Dakotas toward 3.5–4 GW by the end of 2030 57. The leases are take-or-pay, with CoreWeave+1.05% — CoreWeave, up 1.05 percent today among the counterparties 6. Neither point prices the contract or moves the date. Local consent is also unresolved: Oliver County's planning board unanimously tabled the rezoning of the 312-acre site after a county fee formula produced a permit bill near $2.4 million 4.
Watch the prospectus, then the calendar
If the S-1 goes public, the price and the credit-support terms come with it, into a market re-examining AI-linked valuations, capital needs and backlog quality 1. Then the dated test: financial close by March 31, 2027 3. Until one lands, a fifth of the backlog rests on a campus with signed tenants, rising steel and no disclosed source of power 46.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
