10/19/2026
What we suspected is true—utility companies are billing us in advance for infrastructure that will ultimately support major data centers. And OG&E, the only electricity provider for much of Fort Smith, is approved to do the same.
And my opponent voted YES to make this happen.
As early voting begins today, I hope this is top of mind while you’re in the voting booth.
Arkansas lawmakers meet Monday to take a hard look at the 2025 law that lets utilities charge you for power plants years before they produce a single kilowatt. Entergy, Walmart, economists and four farmers are all on the witness list.
The Joint Committee on Energy convenes at 2 p.m. at the Capitol, and the entire agenda is the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act, Act 373 of 2025. Committee leaders have already said they want to change it when the session opens Jan. 11.
Under the old system, a utility built the plant first and started billing customers once it was running. Act 373 lets utilities add a separate rider to monthly bills while construction is still underway on projects the Public Service Commission labels "strategic investments."
Three utilities have been approved so far: Entergy Arkansas, Black Hills Energy and OG&E.
Entergy customers started paying the rider in June, about $4.22 a month net for a home using 1,000 kilowatt-hours. That adds up to nearly $110 million collected from customers. Entergy's own projection for Monday's hearing shows the charge climbing to about $20.10 a month by year five.
The rider covers three unfinished projects: the $1.5 billion Jefferson Power Station near Redfield, the $542 million Ironwood gas plant at Lake Catherine, and the $1.6 billion Cypress Solar project near Pastoria, which is being built largely to serve Google's $4 billion data center in West Memphis.
Entergy says it's "the same cost, but a timing difference." Customers pay about $1 billion through the rider during construction instead of $234 million under the old method, but the company says they save roughly $3 billion once the plants are running and avoid a $25 per month rate shock later.
Critics say customers have become the bank. Sen. Mark Johnson, who co-chairs the committee and voted against the bill, called it a "terrible precedent." His take: "You're taking the debt off of the balance sheet of the utility, and when your debt makes your balance sheet look a whole lot better, the stock price goes up." Even Rep. Aaron Pilkington, who voted yes, now wants caps on recovery and relief for seniors on fixed incomes.
The Google deal is drawing the most heat. Newly unredacted documents show Google will make $443 million in accelerated payments to Entergy between 2025 and 2029, and more than $2.1 billion over the life of the contract. That's more than Cypress Solar costs to build. Yet none of that money goes toward construction. Entergy says it spreads Google's payments across all customers' bills over 20 years instead, while every ratepayer funds the plant through the rider.
Entergy sued the Democrat-Gazette over its reporting on the contract. A federal judge refused to pull the story, and Entergy dropped the suit.
The state's electric cooperatives told the committee they "have not utilized, and do not plan to utilize" the rider.
No vote is scheduled Monday. Bills for 2027 can be prefiled starting Nov. 16. Watch live at arkleg.state.ar.us.
Full story at the link.
