Keel Infrastructure (KEEL) KBW Virtual AI Summit summary

Market and capital conditions

• Political debate centers on data-center water use, electricity rates and property impacts; early community engagement and visible economic benefits may improve sentiment as assets come online.

• Concentrated industry issuance and higher rates have raised debt and equity discount rates; financing markets remain functional but cost more than six months earlier.

Leasing priorities and positioning

• Time to power is the primary lease driver; recent tenant focus has shifted toward sub-50 MW sites, even ahead of scale.

• Pennsylvania’s August executive order largely formalized standards already applied, including funding infrastructure without burdening local ratepayers; existing community approvals strengthen site differentiation.

• Liquidity was nearly $825M at the prior quarter-end and remained close to that level, supporting customer and partner confidence in construction commitments.

• Tenant willingness to pay reflects urgency to deploy GPUs and compute; delayed projects and fewer available options are pushing tenants toward smaller sites and behind-the-meter solutions.

• Financing costs vary sharply by lease credit: a Meta-backed lease was cited at a 7 7/8% coupon versus 12%-13% for lower-credit backing.

Development execution and funding

• Panther Creek permitting slowed by a couple of months but is being resolved; Moses Lake is under development and has broken ground, while remaining Panther Creek and Sharon permits involve minor engineering work.

• Project finance markets remain functional for Sharon and Panther Creek debt needs; liquidity is planned to fund SG&A through at least 2028, with actions taken to extend flexibility and runway.

• GPU and compute investment can substantially exceed infrastructure cost; faster, lower-risk power access can outweigh lease-rate savings and support higher rates for scarce sites.