Google Takes On the Big Island Solar PPA Arkansas Regulators Rejected, in a $600 Million Second Phase With Entergy
- Data Centers Energy Storage Grid Capacity News
Marin Holt
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- 7 minutes read
- Planned investment covered by Google: $600 million
- New battery storage (Driver + Jones Mill): 1,000 MWh and 400 MWh
- Big Island solar PPA: 440 MW (ac)
- Claimed new customer savings over 20 years: $500 million
Entergy Arkansas announced a second phase of service for the Google data center campus in West Memphis, Arkansas, on October 19. Google will cover approximately $600 million in planned investment and a power purchase agreement. The package includes a 1,000 MWh battery at Driver Solar and a 400 MWh battery energy storage system near Hot Springs. It adds a 440 MW (ac) solar power purchase agreement from the Big Island solar facility and new 230 kV transmission lines. Entergy expects it in service in 2028, pending state approval.
The solar contract has a history. Data Center Dynamics reports that the Arkansas Public Service Commission denied an Entergy request to buy power from the Big Island plant in early September. The commission ruled that Entergy had not shown reasonable costs. It also said Entergy had not shown savings for customers against other options. The release says the PPA was “added based on Arkansas Public Service Commission guidance from the initial filing of the resource.”
What Google Is Paying For
The release lists four items. A 1,000 MWh battery goes in at Driver Solar near Osceola. A 400 MWh battery goes in near Hot Springs, at a site Entergy calls Jones Mill. Both are due online in 2028. Crews are building the 440 MW (ac) Big Island solar plant in Mississippi County. Entergy will also expand the Galet substation near West Memphis. It will build two new 230 kV transmission lines to the campus.
Entergy adds the Arkansas Cypress Solar and Battery facility in Jefferson County to this list. Together they add over 1,000 megawatts of solar and 2,800 megawatt-hours of battery storage. The new resources will not be charged through the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act Rider. Talk Business puts the Google project at $4 billion.
The Savings Claim
Entergy says the second phase brings at least $500 million in new customer savings. The savings start in 2028 and run over 20 years. They add to the $1.6 billion that Entergy assigned to the first phase under the Fair Share Plus pledge. Entergy puts the combined net benefit at $2.1 billion for 738,000 customers.
The release does not show how Entergy built the $500 million figure. It gives no total for what Google pays over the contract term. It does not state how much new data center load the second phase serves. MGRID reported in September that published accounts of the first-phase contract disagreed on the upfront payment from Google.
Entergy says this filing will follow the transparency recommendations of the commission. It says the contract will be fully visible to the commission, its staff and the Arkansas Attorney General.
Why It Matters
The Big Island contract shows a new path for a resource that fails the customer-savings test. Entergy did not drop the plant after the commission said no. It moved the plant under a contract that Google pays for. The commission will now review the same 440 MW plant as part of the Google expansion filing. Other utilities with hyperscale customers will watch whether that route holds.
The 2028 battery dates also matter. They put 1.4 GWh of new storage on the Entergy Arkansas system by 2028.
Critical Perspective
Entergy puts the second phase at about $600 million of Google-funded investment and at least $500 million in new customer savings over 20 years. The release does not show how Entergy built the savings figure. In early September the Arkansas Public Service Commission denied the Big Island purchase. It found that Entergy had not shown reasonable costs or savings for customers. The same 440 MW plant now returns inside a contract that Google pays for. MGRID also reported that accounts of the first-phase contract disagreed on the upfront payment from Google. If Google carries the cost, how much of the $500 million comes from the solar contract the commission already denied?
Sources
- Entergy Arkansas, Entergy Arkansas announces enhanced partnership at Google West Memphis campus (October 19, 2026)
- Data Center Dynamics, Google expands partnership with Entergy Arkansas (October 20, 2026)
- Talk Business and Politics, Entergy, Google announce second phase partnership (October 19, 2026)
- Pine Bluff Commercial, Entergy-Google West Memphis partnership (October 2026)
