Graded Light and tightening. 11 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
No connection, own-power or reliability rule in force; large loads are handled through case-by-case utility contracts.
Only the Entergy-Google special contract (Docket 25-055-P, approved by early 2026) sets minimum bills; no general large-load tariff exists.
Independence (5 years), Madison (3 years), Union and Carroll (1 year) counties paused in 2026, all outside the Little Rock and West Memphis markets.
Act 548, effective 1 Oct 2025, widened the sales tax exemption to $100 million of investment with a $1 million payroll test; it stays intact.
No water, air or disclosure requirement in force at state level; Fayetteville's Aug 2026 rules are the only local documentation demand.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
State policy favours data centers: Act 548 of 2025 cut the investment needed for the sales tax exemption (which covers electricity) to $100 million, and the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act lets utilities charge for new generation while it is built. The Public Service Commission has approved a special rate contract for Google's West Memphis campus, and there is no general large-load tariff or state rule on self-supplied power that could be confirmed. Resistance is local. Five counties, including Independence (five years) and Madison (three years), have passed moratoria, Fayetteville and Little Rock have adopted regulations, and in Pulaski County moratoria narrowly failed and a regulatory ordinance passed 11-4 in September 2026 was vetoed by the county judge. The governor has not moved to restrict projects.
Pulaski County sponsors plan an override of County Judge Barry Hyde's 25 September 2026 veto of the data center ordinance, which needs nine of 15 votes; AVAIO Digital's campus near Wrightsville and a Google project at the Port of Little Rock are the projects at stake. The 2027 regular session opens in January, and a non-binding interim resolution encouraging a statewide moratorium is before the Insurance and Commerce committees. The November 2026 governor's race features a Democratic nominee who sponsored that resolution and backs a pause. Lawmakers questioned Entergy Arkansas on 15 September 2026 about its data center contracts and the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act rider that began appearing on bills in summer 2026, and Entergy has petitioned for rehearing of parts of the Google contract order.
No statewide moratorium, but 3 local pauses are in force as of 23 October 2026, in Independence County, Madison County, Union County, Carroll County, Russellville. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. Arkansas is graded Light, which means incentives in place and few new obligations. State incentives expanded in 2025; county moratoria spreading in 2026. The outlook above says what is pending.
Arkansas sits in MISO and SPP. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
No. Arkansas's data center incentives were not pulled back in 2025 or 2026 as of 23 October 2026.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Arkansas scores grid connection 1, power rates 2, siting and land use 2, tax treatment 2, permits and water 1, a mean of 1.6. The most regulated line is tax treatment: Act 548, effective 1 Oct 2025, widened the sales tax exemption to $100 million of investment with a $1 million payroll test; it stays intact.
11 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
On 15 September 2026 the Joint Energy Committee questioned Entergy Arkansas about its data center contracts and a rider under the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act that began charging just over half a cent per kWh in summer 2026 for three generation projects still under construction, including the $1.6 billion Cypress Solar project. Entergy said its Fair Share Plus pledge keeps data centers paying their way and that Google's $2.1 billion over 20 years is not tied to Cypress. Entergy also dropped a lawsuit on 16 September against a newspaper that published West Memphis agreement details.
Source: arkansasadvocate.comRepeated one-year moratorium attempts since May 2026 fell short of the votes needed, including a 26 May measure first recorded as passed and then found to have failed. In September 2026 the quorum court instead approved 11-4 an ordinance written by Democratic county judge nominee Wendell Griffen requiring electrical load analyses, water and wastewater plans, land-use studies and a decommissioning plan, and proof a project will not materially impair surrounding utilities. County Judge Barry Hyde vetoed it on 25 September 2026 citing legal risk; sponsors plan an override vote needing nine of 15 votes. AVAIO Digital's campus near Wrightsville and a Google project at the Port of Little Rock are the pending projects.
Source: arkansasadvocate.comOn 25 September 2026 County Judge Barry Hyde vetoed the data center ordinance the quorum court passed 11-4 earlier that month, which would have required load analyses, water and wastewater plans, land-use studies and decommissioning plans without capping power or water use. Sponsor Julie Blackwood plans an override, which needs nine of 15 votes; nominee Wendell Griffen, who beat Hyde in the primary, backs it.
Source: arkansasadvocate.comThe quorum court voted unanimously in mid-August 2026 for a three-year data center moratorium, making it the fifth Arkansas county with one. The county has no known projects.
Source: lailluminator.comThe city council tightened rules passed earlier in summer 2026: developers must supply more documentation, meet wastewater pretreatment rules, use battery storage rather than generators as primary backup, and get a permit amendment for any expansion.
Source: lailluminator.comThe quorum court unanimously passed a five-year data center moratorium in August 2026, the longest in the state.
Source: lailluminator.comOn 21 August 2026 a state senator, who is the Democratic nominee for governor, proposed a non-binding interim resolution encouraging a moratorium on data center development while the state writes standards. The Legislative Council referred it to the Insurance and Commerce committees.
Source: lailluminator.comUnion and Carroll counties each passed a one-year pause in June 2026, and Russellville passed a six-month pause on approving data centers in July 2026. Little Rock adopted data center regulations in June 2026 instead of a moratorium.
Source: lailluminator.comBetween mid-2025 and early 2026 the Public Service Commission approved a special rate contract with minimum-bill features for Entergy Arkansas to serve Google's $4 billion West Memphis data center; Google pays hundreds of millions up front and about $2.1 billion over 20 years. Entergy has petitioned for rehearing of parts of the order it says could force renegotiation. Arkansas handles large loads through case-by-case contracts of this kind; Entergy also began billing a Generating Arkansas Jobs Act rider of just over half a cent per kWh in summer 2026 for three unfinished plants, which lawmakers questioned on 15 September 2026.
Source: arkansasadvocate.comEffective 1 October 2025. Cuts the qualifying investment from $500 million to $100 million, adds a category for multi-site campuses investing $2 billion, keeps electricity exempt, lets indirect pay count toward the $1 million payroll test, and excludes crypto mining. The exemption was created by Act 819 of 2023.
Source: kutakrock.comBecame law on 20 March 2025. Lets utilities bill customers for new power plants and other strategic investments while they are being built instead of after they enter service; Entergy Arkansas is using it for generation tied to data center growth.
Source: arkleg.state.ar.usNeed the capacity sooner than the queue allows? Every unit in the register is held by Genloop, restored and re-warrantied, and can move on your timeline.
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