Data centers in Arkansas: 8 projects mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Arkansas has six large data center projects proposed, two already under construction, the Arkansas Advocate reported in August 2026. Google announced a $4 billion campus in West Memphis in October 2025, powered by Entergy Arkansas. In January 2026 the Connecticut developer AVAIO Digital Partners announced its $6 billion Project Leo just outside Little Rock off Interstate 530 in Pulaski County, starting at 150 megawatts and possibly reaching a gigawatt, or roughly 750,000 homes' worth, with the facility due online in 2027. Other projects are planned in Little Rock, Conway and Clarksville.

The fight in the Legislature is over how the power is paid for. The Generating Arkansas Jobs Act of 2025 lets utilities start recovering the cost of new power plants from customers before they are finished, and Entergy Arkansas added a rider this summer that pays for three plants under construction, including Cypress Solar, a $1.6 billion solar and battery project built to serve Google's West Memphis campus. At a September 2026 hearing, Republican Sen. Mark Johnson, co-chair of the Joint Energy Committee, held up his own Entergy bill showing an added $22.81 and asked why the utility no longer pays its own upfront costs. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Google will pay Entergy $2.1 billion over 20 years, though not specifically toward Cypress Solar. "Help me understand the process of why that benefits ratepayers," said Republican Sen. Matt McKee. Entergy's John Bethel said the rider is "the same cost, but it's a timing difference." Johnson also criticized Entergy for suing the Democrat-Gazette in federal court over its reporting on the Google agreements; a judge refused to block publication.

Local pauses have come fastest in Republican-led counties. Independence County passed a five-year moratorium in August 2026, the state's longest, though no project is proposed there; Russellville adopted a six-month pause, and Union and Carroll counties one-year pauses. "They can just, willy nilly, sell land and build data centers or crypto mines," said Independence County Justice of the Peace Brad Covington. Little Rock and Pulaski County have repeatedly failed to pass moratoriums since May; Little Rock and Fayetteville instead adopted data center regulations in June, and Pulaski County's regulations were advanced to the full quorum court in August.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.