# Arkansas Cypress Arkansas Cypress is a new solar-plus-battery-storage generating resource of [[Entergy Arkansas]], one of three resources whose CWIP cost flows into the 2026 [[Generating Arkansas Jobs Act (GAJA) rider]]. ## How it appears in the corpus - **CECPN docket:** [[psc/docket-25-054-u-cypress-2026-05-22/_overview|25-054-U]]. Application filed 2025-09-05 (after Act 373); the Commission granted the CECPN on 2026-03-03 ([[Cypress Order No. 4 CECPN Approval]]) and explicitly designated the resource a "Strategic Investment" under § 23-4-1303(10)(C) (renewable resource clause). - **Companion docket:** [[psc/docket-25-055-p-special-contract-2026-05-22/_overview|25-055-P]] (the [[Altitude Capital, LLC|Altitude Capital]] Special Rate Contract proceeding) — litigated as a companion to the CECPN. Per [[Cypress Order No. 3 Supplemental Testimony]] (Doc 69), Staff filed supplemental testimony in 25-054-U after seeing the 25-055-P testimony. - **Consolidated IM docket**: 26-033-U — IM oversight of Cypress, Ironwood, and Jefferson consolidated by [[Cypress Order No. 5 Independent Monitor Consolidation]]. ## What is now known from the public record | Field | Value | Source | |---|---|---| | Resource type | **600 MW solar PV + 350 MW battery storage** | [[Cypress Order No. 4 CECPN Approval]] | | Site location | **~3,000 acres in Jefferson County**, across the Arkansas River from White Bluff coal plant | [[Cypress Order No. 4 CECPN Approval]] | | Transmission Facilities | New 500 kV gen tie line, 500/230 kV substation, 230 kV collector line | [[Cypress Order No. 4 CECPN Approval]] | | Interconnection | At White Bluff 500 kV substation; **bypasses MISO queue** via transfer of transmission rights from White Bluff coal | [[Cypress Order No. 4 CECPN Approval]] | | Strategic-Investment designation | **Designated** under § 23-4-1303(10)(C) renewable-resource clause | [[Cypress Order No. 4 CECPN Approval]] | | Projected in-service date | December 2028 | [[GAJA Rider 2026 Annual Update]] | | Reported construction jobs | Zero (per surface-production overview note) | [[psc/docket-26-008-tf-2026-05-22/_overview|26-008-TF surface production]] | | **Data-center justification** | **Cypress Solar is "crucial" to EAL's resource plans particularly for [[Altitude Capital, LLC]] (Google subsidiary), which "requires Cypress Solar to be included in EAL's generation portfolio as a condition for locating in EAL's service territory"** | [[Cypress Order No. 4 CECPN Approval]], p. 4 | | REC retirement on Google's behalf | RECs to be retired proportionately on behalf of Google **during the term of the Special Rate Contract (SRC)** | [[Cypress Order No. 4 CECPN Approval]] | | Independent Monitor oversight | Required by Order No. 4; consolidated into 26-033-U | [[Cypress Order No. 5 Independent Monitor Consolidation]] | ## Stakeholders [[Entergy Arkansas]] (owner); [[Arkansas Public Service Commission]] (approval and Strategic Investment designation); [[Altitude Capital, LLC]] / [[Google LLC]] (the data-center customer whose Special Rate Contract conditions the deal); all retail customers (rider payers for the CWIP and cost recovery via the GAJA Rider). ## Notes Cypress is the **single most-significant Strategic Investment for the "who pays" question**: it is the only Arkansas CECPN order in the corpus that NAMES a specific data-center customer as the driver of the resource. The cost flows into the [[Generating Arkansas Jobs Act (GAJA) rider|GAJA Rider]] (one of the three plants on the 2026 Annual Update's $1.24B CWIP); the offsetting customer-payment side is in the sealed companion Special Rate Contract proceeding (25-055-P). The reported zero construction jobs is a notable detail given Act 373's framing as a "jobs act."