Data centers in Crittenden County, Arkansas: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Crittenden County's data center is Google's $4 billion campus on about 1,100 acres of former farmland south of West Memphis, near the Mississippi River. Google broke ground in October 2025; West Memphis's development director said Elon Musk had looked at the site first, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. A Google subsidiary, Groot LLC, paid $16.5 million for 1,117 acres in November 2024. The city council approved up to $60 billion in industrial development bonds over 30 years, $10 billion for real estate and $50 billion for equipment. "Current development plans are confirmed for two buildings with the potential to expand," said Google's Laurel Brown. Mayor Marco McClendon called the announcement "the biggest day" in "Best Memphis" history, and contrasted it with xAI's gas turbines across the river: "We also accomplished this goal of this project without using any gas turbines," the Arkansas Advocate reported. Google applied for a Clean Air Act permit for backup generators. It set up a $25 million Energy Impact Fund for local bills and weatherization, in a city where 39 percent of school-age children lived in poverty at the 2020 census.

Power has become the fight. Entergy Arkansas, not the city utility, supplies the campus, partly through Cypress Solar, a 600-megawatt solar project. Entergy asked regulators for a $2.02 monthly rate increase on customers for the project, the Arkansas Times reported. Leaked details of Entergy's contract with Google appeared to show Google paying only part of Cypress Solar's cost, and Entergy filed a legal complaint against the Democrat-Gazette and the Arkansas Times over the leak. At a September 2026 legislative energy committee hearing, Entergy said Google would pay more than the full cost over a 20-year contract. "In my mind, I want to see that proved up," said Sen. Jimmy Hickey Jr. Water is less clear than first advertised. At the 2025 launch the Arkansas Times reported Google would cool with recycled wastewater, but in September 2026 Bob Atkins of West Memphis Utilities told legislators the first three of five buildings would use air conditioning, and he would not give a total water figure.

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.