Entergy sued the Arkansas papers that printed Google's power bill, then dropped the case

A records request turned a power bill into a trade secret

A Little Rock resident's freedom-of-information request to the Arkansas Public Service Commission returned confidential filings, which Entergy says were disclosed in error ⁶. The 31 August story↗ built on them: Google pays $526 million upfront toward the $1.6 billion Cypress Solar project behind its $4 billion West Memphis data center, plus $190 million for transmission ¹.

Arkansas households have carried the other side since June: an added $5.77 a month under the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act rider, which funds three plants including Cypress ¹⁴. The same data-center load has pulled more than 1,000 megawatts of new gas and coal conversions into Entergy Arkansas's plans ⁹. Entergy's answer to the leak was a federal trade-secret suit against both papers, dropped without prejudice on 16 September↗ ⁵⁶.

Ratepayers front the construction money

The contract sets $443 million in accelerated payments plus $83 million a year in minimum demand charges, and classifies none of it as a contribution in aid of construction, the treatment that would shrink what other customers owe ¹. Commission staff asked Entergy's finance director whether the classification was chosen to avoid "contributions made in aid of construction reducing rate base" ¹.

Follow-up reporting put the structure flatly: ratepayers cover the entire $1.6 billion construction cost through the rider, while Google's $2.1 billion arrives over 20 years, none of it construction money ⁶. Ratepayers build the solar farm; Google buys the power on layaway.

Entergy's answer: the story counted one year, not twenty

Entergy's defense is arithmetic. The newspaper counted 12 months of payments instead of the 20-year term, the utility says, and $443 million plus $83 million a year over 20 years comes to about $2.103 billion ². Under the Fair Share Plus pledge, Entergy says the contract hands other customers $1.1 billion in net system benefits, a figure Google's own statement repeats ²³⁹.

The record pairs that defense against Google president Ruth Porat's promise at the 2 October 2025 groundbreaking: Google would "cover the full cost of powering the facility" ². The filings show a third of the plant's $1.6 billion cost paid upfront, with Entergy and Google attributing the balance to monthly payments across the 20-year term rather than construction aid ¹²³.

The court spoke once, then Entergy walked

Judge Lee Rudofsky refused the restraining order on 2 September↗: "It would take a lot to get me to do a prior restraint," and a monopoly utility's arrangement with Google is what "an ordinary Arkansas citizen may very well want to be aware of" ³. Entergy dismissed the case without prejudice on 16 September, free to refile ⁵. Senator Mark Johnson, co-chair of the legislature's Joint Energy Committee, had called the suit "unprecedented" and relayed constituents who read the financing as "a shell game" ⁴⁶.

28 October is the first audit

The market has priced the boom anyway. Entergy shares turned over $240 million on 24 September, the heaviest in the market that day, at 25.37 times earnings with 82% of ratings at buy or better ⁸. The second quarter earned $1.03 a share against $1.05 a year earlier, beating the 94-cent consensus ⁷¹⁰, while operating cash flow jumped $631 million to $1.89 billion↗, primarily on advance payments tied to customer agreements ⁷. That is Google's money, arriving early.

Whether the $1.1 billion ever reaches residential bills is the open ledger. The 28 October report and Google's February 2027 service start are its first scheduled readings ¹⁸.