Google has committed to covering the costs to build a new solar and battery facility that will generate energy for one of its new data centers in Arkansas, though regular consumers are also footing the bill for part of the power plant’s construction.
The new data center in West Memphis, Arkansas, is set to be powered by a massive solar and battery facility called the Steel River Energy Center, commonly known as Cypress Solar. And according to Entergy, the utility responsible for building, owning, and operating the power plant, Google is paying the full cost for that power.
The tech giant’s financial commitments were called into question this summer, after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette claimed it had obtained documents which said Google would only pay for a third of the cost needed to construct Cypress Solar.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Entergy CEO Drew Marsh insisted that those estimates were incorrect.
“They’re paying the full amount,” Marsh said of Google. “There was some unfortunate math in there, but we got all that straightened out and corrected.”
Marsh explained that Google’s commitment to cover the power costs is a key element of the utility’s Fair Share Plus pledge, a framework to ensure that customers are not paying to power data centers.
While Google may be paying for its full incremental costs associated with the power plant, Marsh noted that regular consumers are still paying for part of Cypress Solar’s construction.
Late this summer, a KATV ABC 7 report revealed that Entergy bills in Arkansas increased by $5 starting in June. This new charge stemmed from the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act, which allows utilities like Entergy to charge consumers for the construction of new power plants.
According to the report, about a third of this new charge was expected to go toward Cypress Solar.
Marsh told the Washington Examiner that customers are paying for part of the power plant’s construction because the facility will not just be sending electricity to the data center, but to the broader grid.
“The data center is paying for part of that power plant, but that power plant is for the grid overall,” Marsh said. “So our existing customers are paying for part of it.”
In this case, Google is “paying their fair share of all the costs associated” with powering its operations, he said, adding that the tech giant will be paying for the majority of the construction of the power plant. Entergy has said Google will pay more than $2.1 billion over 20 years for the power generated at Cypress Solar.
Cypress Solar is expected to be built in three phases, the first two of which will add about 1.6 gigawatts worth of solar energy and 1.9 gigawatt-hours of battery storage. As part of its power purchase agreement with Entergy, Google is primarily purchasing the energy generated in these first two phases.
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Once fully completed, the project will deliver about 2.5 gigawatts of new solar generation and 2.9 gigawatt-hours of battery storage. Project developers estimate this will be enough to power more than 315,000 homes in Arkansas annually.
“For our existing customers, Arkansas is still also growing, and so they need an additional capacity as well,” Marsh said. “And that’s where their portion is coming in.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
