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6 billion price tag of the solar and battery facility. That plant -- a 600-megawatt solar field and 350-megawatt battery solar facility -- will feed the grid from which Google's West Memphis data center will draw massive power. Google will pay an additional $190 million to Entergy for transmission system upgrades needed to serve the project. Those and other public revelations surfaced in documents provided to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette by Central Arkansas resident Jessica Kivell who obtained the records, some of them marked "Confidential," through a request under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act filed with the state Public Service Commission.

In December, the commission approved a special rate contract between Google and Entergy. Details of the contract have been mostly kept secret , as both companies said the agreement contained confidential business information. The Democrat-Gazette sued the commission seeking information from the contract. A circuit court judge directed the newspaper back to the commission. In an Oct. 2 news release, Entergy Arkansas said the West Memphis data center "will be bolstered by a new 600-megawatt solar project, backed by a 350-megawatt battery storage system that will be located in Jefferson County, Arkansas.

Google will pay rates that cover the cost of this resource." Gary D. , an attorney with the Wright Lindsey Jennings law firm representing Entergy Arkansas, in a Monday email requested the Democrat-Gazette, the Arkansas Times and Kivell "refrain from any further disclosure of (Entergy Arkansas') trade secrets, destroy any copies of the information that you have, and confirm that you have done so." , Google's parent company, reported a $132 billion profit in 2025. 76 billion profit. Entergy spokesman Matt Ramsey said Monday he could not comment on the documents because they "allege to disclose confidential customer information."

Google did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment about the documents. Public Service Commission documents in the response to the records law request included an email sent to the commissioners that contained a prehearing memo and a document that included questions for the commissioners to ask Entergy officials at a November public evidence hearing on the special rate contract. The memo provides a summary of the agreement between Google and Entergy, as well as summaries of testimony provided by Entergy officials in support of the contract.

One of the key elements of the special rate contract is that Entergy build the Cypress Solar facility in Jefferson County. The commission approved plans for the facility in March. Power for the West Memphis data center will come from a variety of Entergy's generation resources. What makes Cypress Solar so valuable are the renewable energy credits Google will buy from Entergy. Renewable energy credits serve as proof that a company uses electricity from clean energy sources like solar farms, according to the Retail Energy Supply Association. Google can then "retire" the credits to offset its reported greenhouse gas emissions from its data centers to meet corporate clean-energy goals, or it could sell the credits on the open market.

77 monthly increase to cover three new power generation projects, one of them being Cypress Solar. According to the memo, Google will pay Entergy Arkansas $443 million in accelerated payments and $83 million in minimum demand payments toward the solar facility. The contract between Google and Entergy stipulates that Google's payments for Cypress Solar will not be treated as a contribution in aid of construction, but as another form of payment to be spread out over time. If a payment is treated as a contribution in the aid of construction, it reduces the amount customers would have to pay.

In the document containing questions to ask Entergy witnesses, the commissioners were pressed by the commissioners' staff to ask utility officials about the payments not being treated as a contribution in aid of construction. One of the questions, directed to David Hunt, director of finance for Entergy Arkansas, asks him to explain the reasoning for the classification of the payments. "Was the characterization of this contribution in the contract done with the intent to avoid Google's contribution being treated as (contribution in aid of construction)?

To avoid the possibility of contributions made in aid of construction reducing rate base?" The document also cites a news release from Entergy about its partnership with Google to power the data center wherein the utility says Google is paying rates for the construction of Cypress Solar. "Help me understand why Entergy said that Google will pay rates that cover the cost of this resource when in actuality, Google is paying well below the full cost of this resource?