Fermi, the troubled data-center and power startup co-founded by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is hoping to turn a corner after landing its first customer and naming a new chief executive. The company, which went public in a splashy IPO last year, has spent recent months in legal and shareholder turmoil with its former CEO, while racing to sign a first customer for its sprawling Texas data-center and energy campus.

AI cloud provider Tensor Wave agreed to a lease at the campus, which will have a grid connection but plans huge on-site power plants to directly feed data centers filled with rows of servers running AI workloads. The site, called Project Matador, is on former grazing land owned by the Texas Tech University System and covers an area more than half the size of Manhattan.

“Fermi signs a lease!” analysts at Mizuho Americas wrote, calling it “a long-awaited catalyst” for the company. The company also named board member Lee Mc Intire as chief executive this week. He previously served as CEO at engineering firm CH2M Hill and nuclear power startup Terra Power.