TeraWulf’s planned Justified Data Campus in Hancock County, Kentucky, has cleared a major power hurdle after state regulators approved an electricity agreement supporting up to 482 megawatts of service.
The Kentucky Public Service Commission approved the Retail Electric Service Agreement on August 21, allowing Big Rivers Electric Corp. and Kenergy Corp. to implement the agreement for TeraWulf’s project.
The decision gives the planned AI and high-performance computing campus a defined framework for securing power as TeraWulf redevelops the former Century Aluminum facility in Hawesville.
That matters because the project is not starting with an empty site and a future promise of grid capacity. TeraWulf is targeting a former heavy-industrial property where substantial transmission infrastructure remains available.
The company estimates that the redevelopment will require approximately $4 billion to $4.5 billion for site development and the initial data halls. That figure excludes computing equipment and related infrastructure that customers would fund separately.
Kentucky approves 482 MW power structure for Justified Data Campus
The PSC approval goes beyond simply making electricity available.
Under the approved agreement, TeraWulf will bear the market, transmission, delivery and other costs attributable to its electricity load. It will also cover customer-specific infrastructure costs and provide substantial credit support.
The agreement includes negotiated demand adders and customer charges that provide additional contributions to Big Rivers and Kenergy.
The commission found that the arrangement protects existing utility customers and appropriately allocates financial and operational risks.
That is an important distinction for a project of this size. The 482 MW figure represents a substantial new electricity demand, but the approved structure is designed to prevent the direct costs of serving that load from being shifted to other customers.
The PSC specifically concluded that the agreement’s cost allocation and rate structure were fair and reasonable and would provide adequate and reliable service.
For TeraWulf, the decision removes a major regulatory uncertainty around one of the project’s most important requirements: power.
A former aluminum smelter is becoming an AI infrastructure campus
Justified is being developed at the former Century Aluminum Hawesville facility, an industrial property that retains significant transmission infrastructure following the aluminum smelter’s closure.
TeraWulf says approximately 482 MW of existing transmission capability remains available at the site.
That makes the location particularly suited to a large electricity-intensive development.
Instead of building an entirely new industrial site and establishing a new power connection from scratch, TeraWulf is reusing infrastructure that supported the former smelter.
The company is effectively converting an industrial power asset into the foundation for a new digital infrastructure campus.
The PSC also cited the reuse of the existing industrial site as one of the project’s public-interest benefits, alongside expected investment, employment and expansion of the local tax base.
The Justified Data Campus already has a major customer
The power approval is also significant because TeraWulf is not developing Justified entirely on speculation.
TeraWulf has announced a long-term agreement with Anthropic covering approximately 401 MW of critical IT capacity at the campus.
The distinction between the two figures is important: the PSC-approved electricity agreement supports up to 482 MW of service, while the Anthropic agreement covers about 401 MW of critical IT capacity.
The company expects to begin delivering the initial capacity to Anthropic in the second half of 2027, with the full contracted capacity targeted for early 2028.
That commercial commitment gives the development a clearer path than a project that still needs to secure its first major customer.
The investment could reach $4.5 billion
TeraWulf estimates current development costs of approximately $10 million to $12 million per megawatt of critical IT load.
On that basis, the company expects approximately $4.0 billion to $4.5 billion in investment for site development and the initial data halls.
The estimate does not include customer-funded computing equipment and related infrastructure, meaning the eventual economic footprint could be larger than TeraWulf’s stated development investment.
The project is therefore much more than a data-center building program. It represents the redevelopment of a major former industrial property around a new electricity-intensive use.
And that model is becoming increasingly relevant as AI data centers compete for access to power.
What the PSC decision changes
The latest approval does not by itself complete the Justified campus. TeraWulf still has to execute the physical development, including site work, construction of the data halls and associated infrastructure.
But it removes one of the project’s most important uncertainties.
The project now has an approved power-service framework, a major customer commitment and a site with existing industrial transmission infrastructure.
That combination puts Justified in a materially different position from an early-stage AI campus that still needs to assemble its land, power and customer base.
For Hancock County, the development also represents a second life for a former industrial site. The same location that once supported aluminum production is now being positioned to support hundreds of megawatts of computing infrastructure.
Justified Data Campus: Project Factsheet
- Project: Justified Data Campus
- Location: Hawesville, Hancock County, Kentucky
- Developer: TeraWulf
- Approved electric service: Up to 482 MW
- Critical IT capacity under Anthropic agreement: Approximately 401 MW
- Estimated TeraWulf investment: $4.0 billion-$4.5 billion
- Site: Former Century Aluminum facility
- Power advantage: Existing transmission infrastructure and approximately 482 MW of available transmission capability
- Utility partners: Big Rivers Electric Corp. and Kenergy Corp.
- Major customer: Anthropic
- Initial customer capacity: Expected in the second half of 2027
- Full Anthropic capacity: Targeted for early 2028
- Latest milestone: Kentucky PSC approved the Retail Electric Service Agreement on August 21, 2026
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