The Kentucky Public Service Commission has approved a retail electric service agreement for TeraWulf Inc.’s planned 482 MW data center campus in Hancock County, the state regulator said on Thursday.
The Justified Data Campus will repurpose the former Century Aluminum Hawesville facility, leveraging existing transmission infrastructure to support the hyperscale facility. The approval authorizes up to 482 MW of electric service capacity, with TeraWulf estimating total development costs between $4.0 billion and $4.5 billion for site preparation and initial data halls.
Costs for each megawatt of critical IT load are projected at $10 million to $12 million, excluding customer investments in computing hardware. The agreement requires TeraWulf to cover market, transmission, delivery, and infrastructure expenses, along with credit-support obligations. Big Rivers Electric Corporation and Kenergy Corp. will implement the terms under the approved arrangement.
In its August 21 order, the commission found the agreement provides adequate protections for existing customers, allocates financial and operational risks appropriately, and establishes fair and reasonable rates. The decision ensures TeraWulf bears its attributable costs without imposing unreasonable preferences or prejudicing other customers.
TeraWulf Chief Executive Paul Prager highlighted the project’s strategic positioning, noting the site’s existing infrastructure and scale potential. “Power is the gating factor for AI infrastructure, but how you bring that power to market matters,” Prager said. “At Justified, we're taking a former industrial site with existing transmission infrastructure and putting it back to productive use at scale.”
