DarkHorse Lands 50 MW Kentucky Power Deal, Lifting US AI Capacity to 100 MW

The Electric Plant Board of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, known as Hopkinsville Electric System, or HES, will acquire its first TVA 161 kV delivery point as part of a new power agreement with DarkHorse Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: DRK), according to a company announcement dated October 6, 2026.

New Power Agreement Enhances HES Grid Stability and Capacity

General Manager Jeff Hurd, P.E., said the new delivery point will significantly improve HES grid stability and system reliability and credited the partnership with DarkHorse for making it possible.

Under the deal, DarkHorse's wholly owned subsidiary, Pennyrile Holdings, LLC, has contracted for up to 50 MW of power to serve a new superintelligence factory in Hopkinsville.

The contract pushes DarkHorse's total contracted power in the Tennessee Valley Authority region to approximately 100 MW, double its prior level. TVA has approved the capacity to serve the project.

DarkHorse Funds a 65 MW Substation

Central to the arrangement is a new 65 MW substation that will tap TVA's 161 kV transmission system, the regional backbone capable of carrying large loads with less voltage sag. By routing the 50 MW load through the new substation, the lines serving the rest of town are relieved of that burden.

DarkHorse will take 50 MW of the station's capacity, while approximately 15 MW of additional capacity flows to HES's existing service territory. HES will design, build, own and operate the substation, but DarkHorse is funding it in full.

The agreement obligates DarkHorse to pay the entire cost of construction in advance and to convey the substation site to the utility. Hurd noted that the DarkHorse-funded substation will provide up to 15 MW of additional capacity for existing HES customers.

DarkHorse Chief Executive Officer Joel Block said the company wanted to expand in a way that leaves the entire community better off. "We're funding a substation that strengthens power for every customer on the system, not just our site," Block said.

He added that the company is rapidly expanding its power portfolio while converting existing sites to AI and HPC workloads, and that with approximately 100 MW now under contract in the TVA region and a growing pipeline of additional opportunities, DarkHorse believes it is building a scalable platform to support the next generation of compute infrastructure.

Contract Terms and Conditions

The power agreement carries a ten-year initial term from the commencement of service, with automatic five-year renewals. DarkHorse has an eighteen-month permit contingency period to pursue local approvals, and service remains subject to permitting, utility construction, and other customary conditions.

The Hopkinsville facility is the first project advanced under the strategy set out in DarkHorse's September 8, 2026, strategic review, which designated the TVA region as the focus of its superintelligence factory development.

Growing Presence in Hopkinsville

DarkHorse is not new to the area.

The company has operated in Hopkinsville for approximately three years at a site contracted for approximately 15 MW at HES's Holland Substation, a location also being evaluated for conversion to a superintelligence factory. The existing site will continue to be served by the Holland Substation.

With the new site added, DarkHorse's Hopkinsville footprint reaches approximately 65 MW across two locations. The company reiterated three standing commitments: closed-loop cooling only, batteries first, and no tax abatements.

Alongside the announcement, DarkHorse plans to launch www.hoptowndatacenters.com, a site where residents can ask questions, view both project locations and early design concepts, and read answers to questions raised at public meetings.

Company Background

DarkHorse Technologies Inc., formerly Sphere 3D Corp., is a digital infrastructure company focused on operating and expanding scalable power and data center assets for high-performance computing, AI workloads, and digital asset infrastructure.

Following its business combination with Cathedra Bitcoin and the completion of the previously announced sale of its Iowa site, the company owns and/or operates approximately 50 MW of operating power capacity across four data center locations in Tennessee and Kentucky.

It also holds a proposed new 50 MW data center under development with a conditional contract for power in Kentucky, alongside a development pipeline of approximately 100 MW of additional potential expansion opportunities.

The company says it combines infrastructure ownership, energy optimization expertise, and capital markets access in pursuit of long-term value creation across next-generation compute infrastructure.