Who pays if the project needs new infrastructure or closes early?
Ask which adopted terms set the project’s costs, and who pays if it closes early.
Large projects can need new power equipment. If the expected demand does not arrive, or the project closes, other customers may be left with costs. The agreement should explain what the customer must do.
A minimum bill keeps the project paying for the power lines it asked for, even if it uses less.
With no minimum bill
With a minimum bill
Sources: Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Final Decision, docket 6630-TE-113, Very Large Customer and Bespoke Resources tariffs (PSC REF# 591873), May 21, 2026; Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), Data Centers in Virginia (Report 598), December 9, 2024.
What good looks like
- An adopted tariff or agreement names the customer it applies to and the costs.
- The minimum payments, the contract length and the obligations for leaving early are disclosed.
- The financial security, any exceptions and the costs still shared are stated.
What to watch for
- The operator makes a promise. It is put forward as an adopted agreement with the utility.
- Only the connection at the site is covered. Other upgrades are not explained.
- Other customers may be left with costs if demand falls short or the project closes.
Where to look
- Utility commission order and adopted tariff The regulator’s written decision, and the adopted rates and terms of service.
- Approved service agreement and financial-security terms The approved contract to serve the site, and its terms on money or guarantees from the customer.
- Utility cost study and later rate-case records The utility’s study of costs, and the files of later cases that set rates.
For the cost of long-distance lines, Wisconsin set a minimum bill of 100% of forecast demand. Ohio set one of at least 85% of the energy signed up for.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Electric Power Company: the state regulator’s order of May 21, 2026.
Minimum bill for transmission
100% of forecast demand
Or the real demand in the billing period, if that is higher. This covers the charge for long-distance power lines (transmission).
First contract term
15 years
Source: Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Final Decision, docket 6630-TE-113, Very Large Customer and Bespoke Resources tariffs (PSC REF# 591873), May 21, 2026.
Ohio
AEP Ohio: approved by the Ohio regulator on July 9, 2025. The Ohio terms are quoted from the utility’s news release, and the state consumer advocate’s page agrees. Data center groups appealed to the Supreme Court of Ohio in November 2025.
Minimum payment
At least 85% of the energy signed up for
The customer pays this even if it uses less.
How long the terms last
12 years
This includes a four-year ramp-up period. The terms also include an exit fee.
Sources: AEP Ohio, AEP Ohio Proposal on Data Centers to Protect Ohio Consumers Adopted by PUCO (news release), July 9, 2025; Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, Data Center Costs (24-0508-EL-ATA), accessed November 11, 2026.
Adopted requirement
In Memphis, the developer was to pay about $24 million to build a substation. The utility would then credit that cost back on monthly bills.
Substation the developer will pay to build
150 MW
Cost of building the substation
About $24 million
The utility says it will give a “margin allowance” on the monthly bill to recoup this cost.
Utility’s own cost to raise supply to 50 MW
$760,000
A separate capital cost paid by the utility.
First xAI site in Memphis, Tennessee. The city utility, Memphis Light, Gas and Water, presented these terms on July 9, 2024.
Company statement
Source: Memphis Light, Gas and Water (copy on the City of Memphis website), MLGW Utility Support to xAI (committee presentation), July 9, 2024.
The trade-off
A large customer can add to the utility’s revenue. Read the cost protections separately from any claim that everyone’s bills will fall.
Can you see approved terms saying which electricity costs this project must pay?
- Yes
- Approved utility rules or an agreement apply to this project. Explain the protections and the exceptions. A Yes does not mean other customers face no risk.
- No
- The authority in charge confirms outright that no adopted document assigning this project’s costs (a “cost-allocation instrument”) applies. A proposal that is still pending does not show this by itself.
- Not known
- Only a promise or a draft is available. Or it is unclear whether the terms cover this project. Or key terms cannot be checked.
Two real projects
Lighthouse — Port Washington
Port Washington, Wisconsin
Do public records show an adopted tariff or agreement that says who pays the project’s power costs?
YesAdopted requirement
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) oversees utilities. Its Final Decision of May 21, 2026 adopts tariffs. A tariff sets a utility’s rates and terms of service. Customers with forecast loads above 100 megawatts (MW) must use these tariffs. A megawatt measures the power a customer draws at one moment. The tariffs set a first term of 15 years. They set minimum charges for transmission demand, which is demand on the high-voltage lines that move power. They add resource obligations (duties to sign up for power supply). They also add credit support (money or a guarantee put up to back payment). WEC Energy Group, a utility company, filed an update for investors in September 2026. It describes the campus that Vantage Data Centers is developing in Port Washington. It says Oracle “has met the financial security requirements”. Transmission costs are still divided by “load-ratio share”, which means by each customer’s share of the load. The decision does not require transmission costs to be collected upfront. The listed records do not include signed service agreements for the campus or actual bills. This shows an adopted framework for dividing costs (a “cost-allocation framework”). It does not show that all risk to other customers (ratepayers) is removed.
Sources: Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Final Decision: Very Large Customer and Bespoke Resources tariffs, 6630-TE-113, May 21, 2026; WEC Energy Group, WEC September 2026 investor update: tariff terms and Port Washington financial security, September 2026.
Microsoft Fairwater 1 — Mount Pleasant
Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin
Do public records show an adopted tariff or agreement that says who pays the project’s power costs?
Not knownCompany statement
Microsoft says it pays in advance for the energy and electrical infrastructure it will use. The listed records do not include a signed agreement that applies.
Source: Microsoft, Wisconsin project and cost commitments, September 18, 2025.