[rahimnathwani]

"I assume they also have teams hedging power prices to keep those costs reasonable"

How can hedging keep costs reasonable? It can help insulate you from short term price volatility, but you pay for that (as your counterparty will want to be paid for assuming the risk).

What am I missing?

[asciimike]

I consider a long term PPA a hedge against near term volatility. C.f. https://www.fia.org/marketvoice/articles/derivatives-markets...

[rahimnathwani]

I read the article but don't see how it addresses my point.

In any case, let's assume OVH had engaged in a hedge transaction betting that energy prices would go up. That would have positive value for them. But the hedge would be settled financially.

It would not limit OVH's marginal cost of electricity. And your marginal cost is what matters when you're setting prices.