How data centre rent is set: per kW, or a share of value

Is data centre rent priced on power, on land or on the value of what is built?

Two filed leases price the same Texas power very differently. Nscale pays Ionic Digital fixed monthly rent per kW of required power capacity, $15.21 million a month for 234 MW in the first five years, ramping up from August 2026 and rising 3% a year after year five, plus more when the 89 MW expansion arrives. Fermi pays Texas Tech a ground rent of $1.2 million in year one rising to $3.5 million in year five and then 3% a year, plus revenue rent once its first data centre tenant pays: 1% of the appraised value of each data centre up to $3 billion and 0.5% above, with base rent credited against it.

Randeep Bubbra | Lawyer | Making the next generation of infrastructure financeable · Firm profile · Updated 29 October 2026

What the filed contracts say

Contract	What the filed wording says
Ionic Digital lease to Nscale	Rent is fixed per kW of required power capacity: $15.21 million a month for the first five years, after a ramp from 50 MW.
Ionic Digital lease to Nscale	After year five, rent rises 3% a year.
Fermi Texas Tech ground lease	Ground rent starts at $1.2 million and reaches $3.5 million in year five, then rises 3% a year.
Fermi Texas Tech ground lease	Revenue rent is 1% of each data centre’s appraised value up to $3 billion and 0.5% above it.

The filed wording

(b) During the first five (5) Lease Years of the Initial Term, Tenant shall pay to Landlord as fixed monthly rent for the Premises an amount equal to $[***] per kW of the Required Power Capacity (i.e., an aggregate of $15,210,000 per month), save in relation to the applicable months in: (i) in August and September 2026, the Tenant shall pay an amount equal to $[***] per kW for 50MW in aggregate per month (i.e. $3,250,000 per month); (ii) in October and November 2026 the Tenant shall pay an amount equal to $[***] per kW for 100MW in aggregate per month (i.e. $6,500,000 per month); and (iii) in December 2026 and January 2027 the Tenant shall pay an amount equal to $[***] per kW for 150MW in aggregate per month (i.e. $9,750,000 per month).

Redacted in the filed copy: [***] or [*] marks text the filer left out.

Ionic Digital net lease of its Cedarvale campus (Barstow, Texas) to Nscale, 234 MW plus 89 MW expansion, section 2.1(b) · Ionic Digital S-1, Exhibit 10.16

Power: pass-through and the utility contract Lease delivery dates and late delivery credits Minimum bills for data centre load Put it on an issues list All contract clauses

On the deal pages

Financings by the parties to these contracts

The latest debt raised by the companies that signed them, with the terms and the sources on each deal page.

Financing	Borrower or issuer	Date	Amount
Pre-IPO convertible loan-note subscription (initial minimum)	Nscale	15 September 2026	US$2.1bn
Dell short-term equipment lease payment schedules (aggregate)	Nscale	4 September 2026	US$2.54bn
North Carolina GPU DDTL	Nscale	31 August 2026	US$1.2bn
Ward County GPU DDTL	Nscale	31 August 2026	US$1.85bn
Macquarie Iceland GPU facility	Nscale	29 July 2026	US$331.9m

Method

Each extract is quoted from the contract as filed with the SEC, checked against the filed text when it was added; “…” marks words left out. Filers redact commercial terms, so a [***] or [*] is the filer's, not ours. The summaries describe the wording, not how a court would read it, and each contract's defined terms and other clauses can change the effect. General information drawn from public filings. It is not legal advice on any transaction, and using this page does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Views are personal.