Hallador Energy Co. has secured a major electricity supply agreement with an Indiana utility as rising demand from data centers reshapes the state’s power market. The US coal miner and power producer said the contract is expected to provide about $711 million in revenue.
The agreement runs for six years, with revenue scheduled to begin in the middle of 2029. Hallador disclosed the arrangement in a statement Thursday, although the company did not identify the customer involved in the deal.
The contract includes electricity deliveries from Hallador’s Merom power plant as well as a capacity agreement. Together, those components give the total contract an average price above $80 a megawatt hour.
That price represents a new high for Hallador. According to the company, it is the highest electricity price that the Indiana based business has ever secured through such an agreement.
The comparison with Merom’s historical performance is especially striking. Over a period of 15 years, the plant recorded a historical average price of $35 a megawatt hour, meaning the new contract price is more than double that level.
Hallador attributed the sharp increase to growing electricity demand in Indiana. Chief Executive Officer Brent Bilsland pointed specifically to data centers, whose appetite for power has helped increase the need for available electricity supply in the state.
“These data centers coming to the state of Indiana are just game-changing,” Bilsland said in an interview. His comments framed the arrival of data centers as a major shift for electricity producers operating in Indiana.
Bilsland also described a market in which demand is moving ahead of available supply. “Demand is clearly outstripping supply,” he said, directly connecting the record contract price with the current balance between electricity needs and generation capacity.
The deal gives Hallador a defined source of revenue beginning in the middle of 2029 and continuing across the contract’s six year term. The company expects the total value from the customer to reach about $711 million during that period.
Both energy deliveries and capacity are included in the arrangement. The energy portion will be supplied from the Merom power plant, while the capacity agreement forms another component of the total contract disclosed by Hallador.
The average price above $80 a megawatt hour stands at the center of the announcement. Against Merom’s 15 year historical average of $35 a megawatt hour, the contract reveals how much more the utility has agreed to pay under the new arrangement.
Hallador described the contract as its highest priced agreement to date. The record level comes as the company sees data center demand creating a stronger market for electricity supplied by its Indiana operations.
The stock responded before the start of regular trading in New York. Hallador shares climbed as much as 9.8%, reflecting a sharp early move following the company’s Thursday announcement.
The share increase followed disclosure of the contract’s value, duration and pricing. Hallador’s statement provided investors with a clear timeline, placing the beginning of the expected revenue stream in the middle of 2029.
For Hallador, the agreement combines a substantial revenue commitment with a power price far above the Merom plant’s historical average. It also ties future electricity sales to the state’s rising demand, which Bilsland said is being driven by data centers.
The company remains both a US coal miner and a power producer, with Merom serving as the generating asset identified in the deal. Under the newly announced agreement, that plant will deliver electricity at a price exceeding every previous level Hallador has secured.