Arkansas Data Center News

Jun 3, 2026

Arkansas County’s Data Center Moratorium Failed Over Vote Miscount

Pulaski County Quorum Court’s proposed yearlong moratorium on data center development will not take effect after officials determined the vote had been miscounted.

County Clerk Terri Hollingsworth said the measure received 8 votes, short of the 10 needed for passage (the original count showed 10 votes). The ordinance was originally sponsored by Justice of the Peace Julie Blackwood, who plans to reintroduce it as soon as she can. The failed ordinance included an exemption for AVAIO Digital Leo.
AVAIO Digital Leo is a planned data center near Wrightsville; project manager Thomas Nesel said the center’s daily water demand would be about 200,000 gallons during warmer months and it would initially require 150 megawatts, with demand estimated to reach 1 gigawatt as the facility grows. Republican Justice of the Peace Phil Stowers supported the exemption, saying the company had “spent a heck of a lot of money to invest in this community.” The article also notes similar local actions: Denver passed a yearlong moratorium and Minneapolis passed a six-month moratorium on new data centers.

Jun 1, 2026 · Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Targeted Pressure: How Chinese Manufacturing Competition Impacts US States

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has published a report finding Chinese industrial policy is reshaping global manufacturing and harming industries across every U.S. state.

Main finding & method: The ITIF report (June 1, 2026) analyzes one “national power industry” per state using County Business Patterns employment data, HS/SITC export proxies, and global market-share series to conclude that state-backed Chinese subsidies, export pushes, and overcapacity are driving down prices and pressuring U.S. producers in sectors such as semiconductors, batteries, aircraft, and fabricated metals.
Key facts, numbers, and timelines:China plans ~$150 billion in semiconductor investment through 2030 vs. $52 billion under the U.S. CHIPS funding; the report cites $63.3 billion Chinese semiconductor spending in H1 2025, TSMC’s $165 billion U.S. investment announcement, GE Appliances’ $490 million Appliance Park investment (2025), and state/national export shares and HS-code trade series used throughout the analyses.

May 21, 2026

Google Pledges Power, Ratepayer Protections in $15B Missouri Data Center Expansion

Google announced it will invest $15 billion in Missouri infrastructure and build a new New Florence data center while contracting to bring more than 1 GW of new generation capacity to the state.

Main announcement: Google will invest $15 billion in Missouri infrastructure for a New Florence data center, pay for all power used by the new facility, cover infrastructure costs directly driven by its operations, and has committed to bring more than 1 GW of new generation capacity to Missouri; Google also entered a Capacity Commitment Framework (CCF) with Ameren that moved to support development of more than 500 MW of additional capacity (it is unclear whether the 500 MW is included within the 1 GW total). The CCF has been embedded in a PSC-approved tariff (Nov. 24, 2025) signed by Google, Ameren Missouri, Evergy Metro, Evergy Missouri West, the Sierra Club, Renew Missouri, and Missouri Industrial Energy Consumers, imposing 12-to-17-year minimum service contracts, collateral equal to two years of minimum bills, and an 80% minimum monthly demand charge.
Background and related commitments: Google announced a $20 million Energy Impact Fund for home weatherization in counties around Kansas City and New Florence and is funding a Laborers and Contractors Training Center to train more than 2,300 construction laborers (including 1,500 apprentices) over the next two years; Google has executed 1.17 GW of 20-year PPAs with Clearway (Jan 2026), signed a hydropower framework with Brookfield (contemplating up to 3 GW nationally), and has contracted for more than 22 GW of clean energy since 2010. Ameren reported 2.2 GW of signed energy services agreements (ESAs) as of February and 3.4 GW of construction agreements in Missouri, with more than 5 GW of new generation resources planned through 2030 (including two 800-MW simple-cycle gas plants and a 2,100-MW combined-cycle plant planned for 2031).

May 14, 2026

Record Power Burn Expected This Summer as Coal Retirements and Data Centers Drive Gas Demand

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) released its Summer Outlook on May 13, forecasting record U.S. natural gas supply of 117 Bcf/d while warning that rising LNG exports, data center load, industrial activity, and power generation will tighten storage and push power burn to record levels.

Main announcement: NGSA/EVA projects total U.S. supply of 117 Bcf/d (including 111.7 Bcf/d dry gas) and total demand of 108.7 Bcf/d this summer; power burn is forecast at 40.3 Bcf/d (up 2.0 Bcf/d), and end-of-summer storage is projected near 3,662 Bcf (about 106 Bcf below the five-year average). The report was issued as the Summer 2026 Natural Gas Market Outlook (May 13) prepared by EVA for NGSA.
Background and details: The outlook identifies LNG exports rising 4.3 Bcf/d to 19.9 Bcf/d (new capacity including Plaquemines LNG, Corpus Christi Stage 3, Golden Pass Train 1), notes data center capacity growing from 44 GW (2025) to 55 GW (2026) and to 74 GW (2027) (Oracle 1.2-GW Stargate, Meta 1-GW Prometheus, Google $40B Texas commitment), and documents industrial project additions (63 completed projects ~1.99 Bcf/d and $104.3 billion investment; 20 planned projects adding ~1.98 Bcf/d and $44.3 billion investment through 2030). The note highlights permitting and infrastructure policy actions (Trump July 2025 executive order, DOE site openings, SPEED Act House passage Dec 18, 2025, FERC rule changes Oct 2025) and recent pipeline developments (Williams NESE FERC reauthorization Aug 2025; ground-breaking April 2026).

May 8, 2026

EDP Renewables and Meta ink PPA for 250-MW solar project

Meta has reached a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with EDP Renewables North America to offtake energy from the Cypress Knee Solar project in southeast Arkansas.

Main announcement: Meta signed a long-term PPA with EDP Renewables North America for the 250-MW Cypress Knee Solar project in southeast Arkansas; EDP anticipates project completion in 2028, while an EDP fact sheet estimates the project will begin commercial operations next year. This is the third EDP–Meta deal, bringing the total procured energy between the two companies to 545 MW.
Background and details: Cypress Knee Solar is “expected to contribute more than $25 million in additional funding to Chicot County over the project’s 30-year life through an Industrial Revenue Bond agreement with the County”; Meta says the agreement “supports Meta’s efforts to add new generation to the grid as it continues to match 100% of its annual electricity use with new clean and renewable energy.” Related context: Meta has other deals including NextEra’s 11 PPAs to offtake 2.1 GW, and Entergy Louisiana reached an agreement to deliver 5.2 GW of natural-gas capacity to support Meta’s $27-billion Hyperion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana.

May 8, 2026

Meta Signs 250 MW U.S. Renewables Deal with EDP Renewables

EDP Renewables North America (EDPR NA) announced a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Meta for the 250‑MW Cypress Knee Solar project in Arkansas.

250‑MW Cypress Knee Solar PPA with Meta: The project is located near Lake Village, Arkansas, is expected to include approximately $400 million of capital investment, will generate energy equivalent to the average consumption of more than 43,400 homes, and has completion anticipated by 2028. This is Meta’s third agreement with EDPR NA and nearly doubles the total energy procured between the companies to 545 MW.
Background and additional details: Meta ranked as the largest corporate clean energy offtaker globally in 2025 (per BloombergNEF, contracting 10.24 GW in that year). Meta has set targets to reach net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2030 and to continue to match 100% of the electricity used in its data centers and offices with renewable energy.

Apr 22, 2026

Render Networks Announces $14.3 Million Funding Raise From Black Kite Partners

Render Networks announced $14.3 million in private equity growth funding and the acquisition of mPower Innovations.

Acquisition and funding: Render Networks will acquire mPower Innovations and announced $14.3 million in private equity growth funding from BlackKite Partners; as part of the acquisition Render will transition mPower’s digital modeling platform to Esri’s ArcGIS. Greg Calcari (mPower founder) and Jason Brown (mPower CEO) will remain in senior leadership roles at Render. The company is based in Australia with U.S. headquarters in Denver. No specific implementation timeline for the transition or integration was provided in the announcement.
Context and background: Render provides an AI-driven SaaS platform for construction data and cites use in BEAD deployment and major infrastructure projects; past customers named include Lumen, Connect2First, and Craighead Electric Cooperative Corporation. BlackKite Partners is an Australian private equity firm that launched in March 2026. The announcement includes executive statements from Stephen Rose (Render CEO) and Adrian Kerley (BlackKite Partners).

Apr 22, 2026

Patented: Verizon’s Signal Spoof Detection at Base Stations and More North Texas Inventive Activity

Dallas-Fort Worth reported 171 patents granted for the week of March 24 and Verizon was granted a patent for detecting GPS/satellite signal spoofing at cellular base stations.

Main announcement: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (19100) 171 patents granted for the week of March 24, ranked No. 8 out of 250 U.S. metros; notable individual patent: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc. (U.S. Patent No. 12587857) for signal spoof detection at base stations using a comparison of a station’s known “true position” with a calculated “real time position” and generating an alert when the distance exceeds a threshold. Named inventors on the Verizon patent are Jerry Gamble, Jr. (Grapevine, TX) and Sumanth S. Mallya (Flower Mound, TX).
Background/details: The article is a patent roundup (Dallas Invents) listing utility and design patents connected to North Texas; it enumerates classification counts (G: Physics 53; H: Electricity 49; DESIGN: 31, etc.), top assignees (e.g., Texas Instruments Inc. 17; Traxxas L.P. 17; Samsung 8; Verizon 6) and highlights many granted patents across domains (telecom, AI/ML, medical devices, robotics, energy, networking). For each patent the report includes patent number, inventor(s), assignee, application file/date, and abstract (no speculative outcomes).

Apr 19, 2026

AI data center deals must be carefully crafted, EPA chief says in Las Vegas

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin hosted a roundtable with Las Vegas business leaders and urged carefully structured AI data center deals while highlighting water-reuse priorities.

Main action: Zeldin hosted a roundtable at the Vegas Chamber and visited a Switch AI data center and Symphony Park; he emphasized the EPA’s updated Water Reuse Action Plan and urged that data center agreements be structured to provide net benefits to communities. He noted that Las Vegas has banned evaporative cooling for commercial properties (the final commercial permit was issued in 2024) and promoted closed-loop or air-cooling alternatives for new data centers.
Background and details: The article cites a Western Resource Advocates analysis saying NV Energy may need to quadruple peak energy capacity to serve pending data-center requests; Zeldin referenced examples such as Google powering a West Memphis data center with a solar farm and battery storage (linked reporting references a $4 billion Google investment). Zeldin also said EPA officials are taking local input “back to Washington, D.C.” to standardize enforcement practices.

Mar 23, 2026

Communities Are Raising Noise Pollution Concerns About Data Centers

Miguel Yañez-Barnuevo reports on noise pollution from data centers and local policy responses, citing community complaints, health impacts, and mitigation options.

Main announcement/action: The article documents local regulatory and community pushback (e.g., Chandler, AZ adopted a zoning code amendment in 2022 and the Chandler city council unanimously voted against a proposed AI data center in 2025) in response to persistent data center noise; it also reports that 46 planned/permitted/under-construction U.S. data centers will use off-grid gas turbines that run continuously, and cites specific facility details such as an xAI site with 27 natural gas turbines and a Granbury, Texas bitcoin mine with ~60,000 computers located under 100 yards from residences.
Background and factual details: The piece notes the EPA retains legal authority over noise (historically ran the Office of Noise Abatement and Control until defunding in 1981), documents technical facts such as cooling = ~40% of data center electricity use, generators are tested at least once a month, the EPA allows up to 50 hours/year operation of emergency generators in non-emergency testing, and cites measured noise ranges including ~96 dB in large computing warehouses and industrial diesel generators reaching up to 105 dB.

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