New Era locks in a huge Texas power deal

Power first, tenants later

New Era Energy & Digital just did the most important thing a data-center builder can do: lock in the juice. The company signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with a Vistra affiliate for its Texas Critical Data Center project, covering at least 200 megawatts and up to 207 megawatts for phase one.

That matters because AI data centers are basically electricity-hungry castles. No power, no GPUs, no party. And in a world where everyone wants to build AI infrastructure yesterday, firm contracted power is a rare little trophy.

Why investors cared

The market seemed to read this as a de-risking event, not just a utility contract. New Era said the deal reduces development risk as it hunts for tenants, and it already has the land and construction permits in hand.

• Power deliveries are expected to start in the third quarter of 2027.
• The initial term runs 20 years, with automatic one-year renewals.
• Vistra’s affiliate will supply power from its 1,180-MW natural gas plant in Odessa, right next to the site.

Vistra gets a seat at the table

This wasn’t just a plain-vanilla power deal. After deliveries start, Vistra gets a 5% non-voting interest in the part of the project it powers, plus a right of first refusal on future development opportunities at the site and a right of first offer on certain other New Era projects.

So yeah, this is part utility contract, part strategic handshake, part “let’s build the next thing together.” Big picture: if New Era can keep stacking these kinds of infrastructure wins, the stock starts looking less like a speculative science project and more like a real platform with a path to scale.