# Large-Load Cost-Allocation Comparators When a utility must build new generation and transmission to serve a hyperscale data center, a threshold policy question follows: **does the data center pay for that infrastructure, or do existing ratepayers?** Other states have answered it differently from Arkansas, and those answers are useful comparators for the investigation's central [[Who Pays for Entergy's New Generation|"who pays"]] question. This page collects the out-of-state models; they are **Tier-2/Tier-3 comparators, not evidence of any Arkansas act**. ## The Arkansas model (for contrast) Under the [[Generating Arkansas Jobs Act (GAJA) rider]], Entergy Arkansas recovers the full revenue requirement of its new "strategic investment" generation from **all 738,836 retail customers** through an annually updated rider that earns a return on construction-work-in-progress, while the offsetting data-center payments under the confidential [[Special rate contract|special rate contracts]] are sealed. The public record therefore shows ratepayers paying the full charge and cannot independently verify the data-center offset (see [[Who Pays for Entergy's New Generation]]). ## The Kentucky comparators ### EKPC Data Center Power (DCP) tariff — approved by the Kentucky PSC, Oct. 31, 2025 East Kentucky Power Cooperative's DCP tariff "**creates a new customer class for data centers**" designed to "**[p]revent other cooperative members from paying for infrastructure, upgrades and any other costs the cooperative may incur to serve data centers**," to "[e]nsure data centers bear the cost of new infrastructure dedicated to their service," to "[o]btain financial protections for existing members in the event a data center closes before the end of their contract," and to "[r]equire developers of data center projects exceeding **250 megawatts** to provide a power supply plan with a **dedicated resource**." It applies to loads of **15 MW or greater** with high load factors, via a special contract among the data center, EKPC, and the local distribution cooperative ([EKPC DCP tariff announcement, Tier 2](../../web%20archive/2026-06-04/ekpc.coop/2025-10-31-ekpc-data-center-tariff-approved-by-psc.md)). This is the inverse of the GAJA Rider's socialization: a dedicated customer class made to carry its own infrastructure cost. ### Kentucky HB 593 (2026 RS) — "pay their own way" [House Bill 593](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26rs/HB593.html), filed by Rep. Josh Bray (R-Mount Vernon), "would only allow large data centers to have electric service from a public utility if they sign a contract agreeing to cover any transmission or infrastructure costs attributable to serving that data center, ensuring those costs are not passed onto other existing utility customers." It would require the data center to **prepay for any infrastructure** (PSC-approved contract/tariff), impose a **$75,000 non-refundable application fee**, require a "dedicated resource" for loads exceeding **250 MW**, and tie the data center's tax incentives to compliance with local requirements ([LPM/KPR coverage, Tier 3](../../web%20archive/2026-06-04/www.lpm.org/ky-hb593-data-centers-pay-their-own-way-2026-02-12.md)). A companion bill, HB 544 (Rep. Adam Moore, D-Lexington), takes a similar approach; the LG&E/KU pending PSC tariff would require a 15-year contract with an 80%-of-stated-load minimum take. ## Notes - **The "cowboy speculators" parallel.** The Kentucky debate independently surfaced the same shell-developer concern at the heart of the Arkansas [[T003 - Shell-LLC Principal Attribution for Forgelight and Willowbend|T003]] tension: Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers warned of "cowboy speculators ... [who] just came in and bought land or took options on land" without "relationship papers" showing ties to an operating hyperscaler, and Rep. Bray expects opposition "from private developers who hope to land a data center project before they've signed a contract with a big tech company like Google, Meta or Amazon to operate it." HB 593's $75,000 fee is designed to "separate the wheat from the chaff." This is recorded as a **comparator framing**, not as evidence about the principals of [[Forgelight Ventures, LLC]], [[Willowbend Capital, LLC]], or [[Spark Innovations, LLC]] — the restraint of [[D006 Synthesis]] holds. - **Why it matters for Arkansas.** These comparators establish that the load-causer-pays model is an available, recently-adopted regulatory choice (EKPC) and an active legislative one (HB 593) — sharpening the contrast with Arkansas's decision (Act 373 / the GAJA Rider) to socialize new-generation cost across all ratepayers while sealing the data-center offset. - **Open follow-on**: the Kentucky PSC order approving the EKPC DCP tariff (the primary adjudicative record behind the announcement) and the enrolled/engrossed text and roll calls of HB 593 / HB 544 were not pulled this pass (LegiScan was returning network errors on 2026-06-04); next step is the Kentucky PSC docket and the Kentucky LRC bill records.