Evaluating a provider.

Behind-the-meter power concentrates everything — fuel, permits, machines, uptime — in one counterparty. That makes provider diligence the single highest-leverage exercise in a data center power procurement. Here is the framework we would use on ourselves.

1. Fuel security

The plant is only as firm as its fuel. Ask whether gas supply is contracted firm or bought interruptible, for what term, and at what price exposure. In the Permian, supply should be contracted at the source with physical deliverability to the site — a spot-market fuel strategy behind a firm power contract is a mismatch you will eventually pay for.

2. Site control and permits

"Secured" should mean owned or long-term leased land and air permits issued — not applications pending. TCEQ air permitting is measured in months and is on the critical path; a provider who has permits in hand has already retired the schedule risk a provider with a permitting plan is still carrying.

3. Engineering for reliability

Grid reliability comes from diversity; BTM reliability comes from design. Look for redundant generation sized N+1 or better against your critical load, maintenance regimes that don't require taking the campus down, and a guaranteed availability number in the contract with real remedies behind it. If reliability lives in the marketing deck instead of the PPA, it doesn't exist.

4. Commercial structure

The PPA is where the risk allocation actually happens: firm capacity and availability guarantees, term and pricing mechanics, take-or-pay obligations on both sides, non-delivery remedies, fuel pass-through treatment, expansion rights, credit support. A provider who negotiates these terms fluently has financed generation before; one who resists specificity is asking you to carry their execution risk for free.

5. The team

Gas supply, land, permits, turbines, and a data-center counterparty is an energy project, a construction project, and a financing rolled together. Ask who on the team has operated producing assets, built plants at this scale, and signed contracts of this size — and check. In this category the team is the technology.

About Corley Energy

Corley Energy is a behind-the-meter independent power producer, founded in 2024 by Jake Corley, Tim Bozeman, and Mark Meyer. We convert stranded Permian Basin natural gas into firm, contracted electricity for AI data centers at Power Foundry, our ~1,000-acre development in Upton County, Texas. Start with what a power foundry is, see the company facts, or check current capacity on the Sites page.

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