---
title: "TeraWulf doubles its Kentucky power draw to 1 GW with $100 million in bill credits, none of it filed yet"
description: "The pledge rests on a builder that spent $855 million on construction last quarter against $44.8 million of revenue. The decade of winter credits does not reach a Kentucky mailbox until 2029."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Power"
published: 2026-10-14T20:45:09.089Z
modified: 2026-10-14T20:45:09.089Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/terawulf-doubles-its-kentucky-power-draw-to-1-gw-with-100-million-in-bill-credits-none-of-it-filed-yet
language: en
keywords: "Data Centers, Utilities, Kentucky, TeraWulf, Regulation, Debt"
---

# TeraWulf doubles its Kentucky power draw to 1 GW with $100 million in bill credits, none of it filed yet

> The pledge rests on a builder that spent $855 million on construction last quarter against $44.8 million of revenue. The decade of winter credits does not reach a Kentucky mailbox until 2029.

## A $25 winter discount, dated 2029

On October 5, 2026, Kentucky Power and [TeraWulf](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001083301) (Nasdaq: WULF) [finalized an amended contract](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/kentucky-power-terawulf-finalize-expanded-122200627.html) that doubles the developer's contracted power at its Muskie campus in Grayson, Kentucky, from 500 megawatts to 1 gigawatt, and pulls the second 500-megawatt phase forward to 2029 from 2030 [1]. TeraWulf, a former bitcoin miner now building data centers, also agreed to pay the estimated financing costs of the utility's planned 760-megawatt Big Sandy gas plant; the construction bill stays with Kentucky Power, a unit of American Electric Power [1][2].

Wrapped inside is a decade of winter bill credits for the utility's roughly 163,000 customers across 20 eastern Kentucky counties: $100 million funded by TeraWulf, about $25 a month for a typical home in heating season, starting in 2029 [1].

## One customer the size of the whole territory

[No tenant has been named](https://theinference.org/article/the-gigawatt-meant-to-cut-kentucky-power-bills-still-has-no-announced-tenant) for the 285-acre site at the EastPark Industrial Park, bought in May, where TeraWulf estimates $4.0 billion to $4.5 billion of investment in site development and its first data halls [3][4]. Kentucky Power development director Amanda Clark frames the stakes in household terms: the campus "equates to essentially all the other customers that we have," and without new load the utility would need 175,000 new homes to steady its rates [5].

## Nothing is filed, and the arithmetic is tight

The protections behind the promise stay undisclosed until Kentucky Power [files the contract with the state Public Service Commission](https://www.environmentenergyleader.com/stories/kentucky-power-terawulf-deal-adds-100m-in-bill-credits,143202) later this year [1][2]. What is fixed already is the floor: a March 2025 commission order for loads above 150 megawatts set a 20-year initial contract, minimum bills on 90 percent of contracted demand, and collateral worth 24 times the largest monthly non-fuel bill [2].

The $25 figure deserves a check: paid across a five-month winter, it would total roughly $1,250 a household over ten years, and about $200 million across 163,000 homes [1], double the pledge. The release never says how many winter months the $100 million covers, and that count is the first thing the unfiled contract must answer.

Several Kentucky communities have paused data centers by moratorium, and Governor Andy Beshear's executive order on data-center development bars utilities from raising rates to cover them [5][6].

## The buildout outruns the business

TeraWulf earned $44.8 million last quarter, down 6 percent from a year earlier, and [lost $1.94 a share](https://www.marketbeat.com/instant-alerts/analyst-terawulf-nasdaq-wulf-stock-rating-upgraded-by-td-cowen-2026-10-14/) against an expected 24-cent loss, carrying debt-to-equity of 27.25 [7].

Capital spending hit $855 million in the same quarter, about nineteen dollars of construction for every dollar of revenue, on debt that has climbed from roughly half a billion dollars at the end of 2024 to $5.2 billion [8]. Another $3.5 billion is planned, the company's first leveraged loan plus high-yield bonds with [Morgan Stanley](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/morgan-stanley) leading, finance chief Patrick Fleury told Bloomberg [9].

*Chart: **TeraWulf's debt went from half a billion dollars to $5.2 billion in six quarters** Line chart of TeraWulf total debt by quarter from Q4 2024 to Q2 2026, rising from about $0.49 billion to $5.2 billion.*

*Total debt in billions of US dollars, as reported in TeraWulf's SEC filings, Q4 2024 through Q2 2026. The series starts after a break in the reported figures around Q3 2024. [14]*

The stock [fell 5 percent on announcement day](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/05/terawulf-slides-5-despite-doubling-muskie-power-contract-to-1-gigawatt-core-scientific-drops-3-riot-eases/) and has drifted lower since, trading near $12.98 on October 13, well under half its 52-week high of $29.84 [10][11]. TD Cowen turned positive this week all the same: StreetInsider logs the firm [initiating coverage at Buy](https://www.streetinsider.com/Hot+New+Coverage/TD+Cowen+Starts+Terawulf+Inc.+%28WULF%29+at+Buy/27173450.html), while MarketBeat, citing Zacks, reports the Monday note as an upgrade to strong buy, into a $32.86 consensus target [12][7].

*Chart: **TeraWulf's quarterly capex now runs about 19 times its revenue** Line chart of TeraWulf quarterly revenue and capital spending from Q3 2024 to Q2 2026, with capex climbing to $0.86 billion while revenue stays flat near $0.045 billion.*

*Quarterly revenue and capital spending in billions of US dollars, as reported in TeraWulf's SEC filings, Q3 2024 through Q2 2026. [8]*

## The bull case has a precedent at Justified

TeraWulf's other Kentucky campus points the other way. Justified, a former aluminum smelter site in Hawesville, came energized, with a substation and about 482 megawatts of transmission capability already in place, and the AI company [Anthropic](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anthropic) leases about 401 megawatts there on a 20-year deal worth roughly $19 billion [3][11]. [The commission approved that contract in August](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/terawulf-expands-contracted-power-capacity-at-its-muskie-data-campus-to-1-gw-1036596868), finding it protected existing customers [6].

Muskie starts from zero on power delivery: it needs a new 765-kilovolt Venator substation and about 8.5 miles of new transmission lines before a single server racks [3][13]. Sister utility Indiana Michigan Power is cutting residential base rates 5 percent on its own large-load growth, the outcome Kentucky Power is selling [5].

## The dates that decide it

The substation application reaches the commission this month and the line application in early 2027, with a decision expected in spring 2027 and service targeted for October 2028 [13]. Residents review transmission routes at [a October 15 open house in Catlettsburg](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ky-power-open-house-muskie-204600019.html), with comments due October 29 [13], and the contract filing follows before year-end [1].

Third-quarter results land on November 6 [11]. Between now and any credit reaching a mailbox in 2029, everything runs through Frankfort, the state capital where the Public Service Commission sits.

## Takeaway

Kentucky Power and TeraWulf have signed a doubled 1-gigawatt contract with $100 million in bill credits for 2029, but none of the protections is filed yet, and the builder's balance sheet ($5.2 billion of debt against $44.8 million of quarterly revenue) says the pledge rests on money not yet earned.

## Sources

1. [Kentucky Power via PR Newswire, Yahoo Finance, "Kentucky Power, TeraWulf Finalize Expanded Agreement Providing for $100 Million in Customer Benefits," 5 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/kentucky-power-terawulf-finalize-expanded-122200627.html)
2. [Environment+Energy Leader, "Kentucky Power TeraWulf Deal Adds $100M in Bill Credits," 12 October 2026](https://www.environmentenergyleader.com/stories/kentucky-power-terawulf-deal-adds-100m-in-bill-credits,143202)
3. [Engineering News-Record, "TeraWulf Doubles Kentucky Data Center Power to 1 GW," 6 October 2026](https://www.enr.com/articles/63799-terawulf-doubles-kentucky-data-center-power-to-1-gw)
4. [ConstructConnect News, "TeraWulf Expands Kentucky Data Center Power Commitment to 1 GW," 12 October 2026](https://news.constructconnect.com/terawulf-expands-kentucky-data-center-power-commitment-to-1-gw)
5. [WKYT (Samantha Valentino) via MSN, "WKYT investigates: Kentucky Power says data centers could lower electric bills in eastern Kentucky," 1 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/wkyt-investigates-kentucky-power-says-data-centers-could-lower-electric-bills-in-eastern-kentucky/ar-AA2dnDh3)
6. [TeraWulf press release via GlobeNewswire, Markets Insider, "TeraWulf Expands Contracted Power Capacity at its Muskie Data Campus to 1 GW," 5 October 2026](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/terawulf-expands-contracted-power-capacity-at-its-muskie-data-campus-to-1-gw-1036596868)
7. [MarketBeat, "TeraWulf (NASDAQ:WULF) Stock Rating Upgraded by TD Cowen," 14 October 2026](https://www.marketbeat.com/instant-alerts/analyst-terawulf-nasdaq-wulf-stock-rating-upgraded-by-td-cowen-2026-10-14/)
8. [TeraWulf, quarterly revenue, capex and debt from its SEC filings, retrieved 14 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001083301)
9. [Stocktwits, citing Bloomberg, "WULF Stock Jumps 7%: TeraWulf's $3.5B AI Data Centre Plan Has Retail Investors Watching," collected 13 October 2026](https://stocktwits.com/news-articles/markets/equity/wulf-stock-jumps-7-percent-terawulf-3-5b-ai-data-centre-plan-retail-investors/cZmY5g0R7nn)
10. [24/7 Wall St., "TeraWulf Slides 5% Despite Doubling Muskie Power Contract to 1 Gigawatt; Core Scientific Drops 3%, Riot Eases," 5 October 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/05/terawulf-slides-5-despite-doubling-muskie-power-contract-to-1-gigawatt-core-scientific-drops-3-riot-eases/)
11. [International Business Times AU, "TeraWulf Shares Edge Lower as Data-Center Stocks Face Pressure Ahead of November Earnings," 13 October 2026](https://www.ibtimes.com.au/terawulf-shares-fall-data-centre-stocks-pressure-1876649)
12. [StreetInsider, "TD Cowen Starts Terawulf Inc. (WULF) at Buy," collected 14 October 2026](https://www.streetinsider.com/Hot+New+Coverage/TD+Cowen+Starts+Terawulf+Inc.+%28WULF%29+at+Buy/27173450.html)
13. [The Daily Independent (Ashland, Ky.) via Yahoo News, "Ky. Power to have open house on Muskie improvements," 2 October 2026](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ky-power-open-house-muskie-204600019.html)
14. [TeraWulf, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 14 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001083301)


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TeraWulf doubles its Kentucky power draw to 1 GW with $100 million in bill credits, none of it filed yet — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/terawulf-doubles-its-kentucky-power-draw-to-1-gw-with-100-million-in-bill-credits-none-of-it-filed-yet