The disclosure and our analysis
Evidence dates
Evidence: PowerCompute Form 8-K and press release dated October 6, 2026, reporting a power contract signed September 30, 2026; TVA news release distributed August 20, 2026; TVA letter to local power companies dated February 18, 2026; Action News 5 report dated August 20, 2026.
What TVA approved
On August 20, 2026, the TVA Board approved changes to its wholesale rate structure that, in TVA's words, protect residential and manufacturing customers from subsidizing costs tied to data center load growth. TVA tied the change to its signing of the Ratepayer Protection Pledge. The same meeting approved the 2026 Integrated Resource Plan, which says the region may need 11 to 32 GW of additional generation by 2040, and a Board item on loads greater than 100 MW. TVA's release does not give rate figures. [Source 3]
TVA's February 18, 2026 letter to local power companies laid out the plan. It proposed removing data centers from the manufacturing service rate class they had been allowed into since December 2008, when TVA had excess capacity. It also proposed a new class for large customers with "pricing and capacity commitment requirements" and a "capacity commitment charge" requiring upfront customer investment to cover TVA's cost of serving certain new facilities. [Source 4]
Local reporting on the August 20 meeting quoted TVA Chief Financial Officer Tom Rice describing an average increase of about 10% for data center customers, phased in over three years, and an upfront capacity commitment charge for new data centers paid over three to five years. [Source 5]
What PowerCompute's filing adds
PowerCompute, which runs bitcoin mining and some GPU compute, is the first company we found describing the tariff in an SEC filing. Its description, which we attribute to the company: [Source 2]
TVA adopted the Large Data Service rate in August 2026 and removed data center load from the general industrial rate class. Bitcoin mining counts as data center load.
From fiscal 2027, which began October 1, 2026, a Capacity Commitment Rider charges about $1.5 million per MW for new or expanded data center load above the first 5 MW of contracted demand.
Load under a contract effective before October 1 is not subject to the charge.
For fiscal 2027 there is a 2,000 MW cohort threshold of capacity, available first come, first served.
Eligibility covers delivery points whose main use falls under NAICS subsectors 518 or 519, NAICS 522320 or 541214, or, in TVA's sole judgment, computational equipment.
The PowerCompute contract
PowerCompute's subsidiary signed a new industrial power contract with Columbus Light and Water on September 30, 2026, effective as of September 16, for up to 11,000 kW of firm power at its Columbus, Mississippi data center, up from 8.5 MW. Power is priced under the utility's Large Data Service Rate, Schedule DCB, subject to scheduled increases and TVA adjustments. The term runs to September 16, 2030, with a five-year renewal if both parties agree. PowerCompute's estimated share of the utility's capital costs is $0. [Source 1]
PowerCompute says it was not assessed a capacity charge on any of the 11 MW, and that its $300,000 deposit is being returned and replaced with a utility bond. CEO Bruce Rodgers said a company building 11 MW of new data center load in the TVA region today would face a charge of about $1.5 million per MW above the first 5 MW. That is a company claim. [Source 2]
Buyer analysis
This is our analysis.
**New capacity in the TVA region just got more expensive to power.** On PowerCompute's description, a new 50 MW load would face about $67.5 million in capacity charges on the 45 MW above the first 5 MW, paid over three to five years per local reports. That is our arithmetic on the reported rate. We did not review the rider text, which may contain exceptions, credits or caps.
**Contracted power signed before October 1 now carries a premium.** Load under contract before the deadline is exempt, according to PowerCompute. Providers with existing TVA contracts hold an advantage over new entrants. Expect that advantage to show up in pricing.
**Ask who pays on expansions.** If you take space in a TVA region facility, ask whether its capacity was contracted before October 1, whether your phase counts as expanded load, and whether any capacity charge will be passed through in your rate or as a one-time cost.
**The 2,000 MW cohort is a queue.** If the fiscal 2027 cohort fills, later projects may wait. Ask providers whether their planned phases have a place in it.
