WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. — As construction continues on Google’s new data center in West Memphis, questions are being raised by Arkansas lawmakers about the potential financial impact on Entergy Arkansas customers.
During a joint energy committee meeting on Thursday, state legislators pressed Entergy Arkansas officials about costs associated with the facility, which is being developed as part of a 20-year partnership between Google and the utility provider. Entergy Arkansas officials confirmed that a nearly $6 monthly increase for ratepayers, projected over two decades, is part of the funding model for the project.
“We file a schedule based on what it’s going to go up by based on the capital outlays we see for those resources,” said John Bethel, Entergy Arkansas’s director of public affairs. Bethel added that while the increase would cover the costs of building infrastructure, the additional charges would stop once the project’s assets are fully depreciated. Further inquiries regarding Google’s exact energy consumption for the West Memphis facility were left unanswered, as Entergy representatives declined to discuss those details publicly.
Google has stated that the facility’s energy demands are tied to powering core products such as YouTube, Gmail, and its search engine, which require substantial electricity to maintain reliability and performance.
In response to concerns from residents of West Memphis, the city’s utility provider, West Memphis Utilities (WMU), clarified in a statement that any infrastructure costs associated with the Google data center will not impact WMU customers, as WMU operates independently from Entergy Arkansas.
Further discussions regarding the data center’s impact on ratepayers were tabled until next month for additional consideration.
Google is also reportedly exploring the possibility of a second data center project in Little Rock.
The West Memphis data center, which has been under construction for nearly a year, marks a significant infrastructure development for the region. State officials plan to monitor the project’s progress and its implications for Arkansas utility customers.