Reading an 8-K for power, not PR

An 8-K is a current report on the SEC’s EDGAR system. Companies use it to disclose material events between 10-Qs. Watt Brief reads 8-Ks for data-center power and interconnection — not for branding, campus renderings, or a CEO quote about “AI demand.” If the filing does not name a data center, power, or interconnection in a way you can point to, it is not a row.

Which items actually move a site

Item 1.01 (material definitive agreement) and Item 2.01 (completion of acquisition or disposition) are the usual homes for a signed offtake, a campus purchase, or a utility interconnection agreement that the issuer treats as material. Item 8.01 is Other Events: a catch-all for something the company wants on the record that does not fit a numbered item. Item 7.01 (Regulation FD) is often furnished, not filed — useful color, weaker as a clock.

We do not invent CIKs or accession numbers here. Live rows use the CIK and the accession number EDGAR printed. Sample format rows on the homepage are marked EXAMPLE.

Pull the load, not the adjective

The useful fields are the ones a site-selection desk can act on:

• MW — stated, or bounded if the filing gives a range or a campus total. Not inferred from a render.
• Where — county, city, or a named campus only if the 8-K or an exhibit states it.
• Counterparty — utility, ISO, landlord, or offtaker, only if named.
• The agreement — interconnection, power purchase, ground lease, or development, if the item or exhibit says so.
• The date that binds — signing, close, or a stated commercial-operation target on the filing. Not a marketing “coming soon.”

A headline that says “expands AI infrastructure” with no MW and no interconnecting utility is PR. An Item 8.01 that attaches a utility letter naming a MW request is a document. Related exhibits stay on that row. A follow-up 8-K that only restates the same agreement is not a second event.

How the row is keyed

Identity is source + document ID + event class. For EDGAR, the source is the 8-K, the document ID is the accession number, and the class is edgar. If the same accession is still sitting there with the same facts, it is not morning news. If a later 8-K amends the MW, names a county the first filing omitted, or reports a termination, that is a new delta.

Open the filing on EDGAR. Match the accession. Read the item number before the exhibit list. If power or interconnection is only in the press-release exhibit and not in the item text, say so on the row — and still confirm the exhibit is attached to that 8-K. We do not scrape a homepage blog and call it an 8-K.

This is also why we do not sell comps. An 8-K does not produce a $/kW. It produces a stated load, a named counterparty, or silence. If you need rent marks, use a comps product. If you need the clock before you book the visit, read the item, then confirm it on EDGAR. Adapters and event classes are on Sources.