Entergy puts Google's $600 million Arkansas grid build on Google's tab, promising $2.1 billion of savings
Entergy Arkansas's October 19 announcement puts about $600 million of batteries, solar and transmission on Google's tab, outside the state rider that carried part of phase one. Entergy now counts $2.1 billion in promised savings across both phases, pending a regulator's approval.
Richard Tang · 3 min read
Google's second West Memphis power deal moves the cost of its AI campus's electricity off Arkansas ratepayers and onto Google−0.14% — Google, down 0.14 percent today itself. On October 19, 2026, Entergy Arkansas announced the second phase of its Google partnership: about $600 million of batteries, solar and transmission that Google funds in full, written outside the state rider that carried part of phase one. 123 The utility serves about 738,000 customers in 63 counties, and phase two is built so their bills carry none of that construction cost. 1
Models need compute, and Google's $4 billion West Memphis campus runs its search and AI workloads. 24 A campus that size needs dedicated power plants, and someone has to finance them while they are built. Phase one answered with the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act rider, which collects those financing costs during construction, and that someone was every other Entergy+1.18% — Entergy, up 1.18 percent today customer. 56
Phase one left the financing on residential bills
Entergy's own rider page spells out the shape. About $1.76 of a typical monthly bill is already financing the Arkansas Cypress solar plant that will serve Google, one of three generation projects customers began paying for in June. 56 Google is set to pay $103 million this year under the first contract, newly unredacted commission filings show. 64
Phase two puts the full cost on Google up front
The new contract buys a 1,000-megawatt-hour battery at Driver Solar, a smaller one near Hot Springs, a 440-megawatt solar purchase from the Big Island facility, an expanded Galet substation near West Memphis and two new 230 kV transmission lines to serve the expanded campus, all expected online in 2028. 12 None of it is charged through the rider. 1 Entergy promises no bill increase, and at least $500 million in customer savings over 20 years starting in 2028, on top of the $1.6 billion claimed for phase one. 1
The commission shaped even the asset list: in September it rejected Entergy's 20-year Big Island solar contract, finding the cost case unproven and the economics leaning on renewable-credit revenues still under negotiation with Google. 7 Entergy says the resource returns under the commission's guidance, inside a package Google funds. 1
The Arkansas commission still has to approve the contract
For Entergy, trading on the NYSE as ETR, the build keeps compounding: quarterly capital spending has more than doubled since 2023, and Google's payments make the Arkansas slice self-funding rather than ratepayer-funded. 86 The promise is not booked yet. The contract will be submitted to the Arkansas Public Service Commission, where the staff and the attorney general can read every provision before the savings count. 1
Entergy's quarterly capital spending has more than doubled since 2023
Data
| Quarterly capex | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '23 | $1.13B |
| Q4 '23 | $1.15B |
| Q1 '24 | $1.27B |
| Q2 '24 | $1.19B |
| Q3 '24 | $1.56B |
| Q4 '24 | $1.95B |
| Q1 '25 | $1.75B |
| Q2 '25 | $2.05B |
| Q3 '25 | $1.93B |
| Q4 '25 | $2.22B |
| Q1 '26 | $2.4B |
| Q2 '26 | $2.83B |
Phase one promised savings and still left customers financing the plant. Phase two moves that cost onto Google before the concrete pours. If the commission signs, every state courting AI load has a template: the customer who needs the power funds it, and the regulator reads every page.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
