# Palmer Direct Testimony on the Google Special Rate Contract [[J. David Palmer]]'s 19-page direct testimony in [[psc/docket-25-055-p-special-contract-2026-05-22/_overview|Docket 25-055-P]], filed 2025-09-05. **The most explicit public-record identification of Altitude Capital as Google's subsidiary and Google as the West Memphis hyperscale data-center customer.** ## Key takeaways - **Customer identification (p. 2):** "[T]he Company's application for approval of a new special rate contract ('SRC' or the 'Agreement') with **Altitude Capital, LLC ('Customer' or for purposes of this filing, 'Google'), a subsidiary of Alphabet, Inc. ('Parent Company').** The Agreement is crucial for EAL to provide electricity supply to support Google's establishment of a new, hyperscale data center in the City of West Memphis in Crittenden County, Arkansas." - **Origin of the deal (p. 11):** "**Google began discussions with EAL about potentially choosing West Memphis as the location for a new hyperscale datacenter in May 2024.**" - **Cypress Solar specs as economic-development benefit (p. 10):** "Cypress Solar is a planned 600 MW solar photovoltaic array with a 350 MW battery energy storage system and associated transmission facilities in Jefferson County. Cypress Solar will employ between 700 and 800 construction workers during construction and could generate approximately **$46 million in state sales and use tax contributions during the construction phase**... the property taxes during the first year of operation of Cypress Solar are estimated at approximately **$9.6 million**." - **Datacenter interconnection (p. 5):** "The datacenter will be interconnected to EAL's high voltage 500kV grid." - **Google demand flexibility (p. 5):** "Google is incorporating demand flexibility in its operations to assist during times when the grid is constrained, which can help mitigate higher energy prices during those times for the benefit of all customers." - **The conditional logic (p. 11):** "Google repeatedly represented to EAL that **its site location depends in key part on the energy supply contract** associated with the selected site and upon certain strategic needs being met... the SRC plays a critical role in achieving the requirements needed for a customer to select Arkansas." - **Insufficient capacity (p. 12):** "Q: Does EAL have sufficient capacity to serve Google? A: **No.** It is for this reason that the SRC commits EAL to develop, and Google to financially support through the rates included in the SRC, Cypress Solar to add generation to the Company's resource portfolio." - **Cypress as system resource (pp. 13–14):** Cypress will serve all EAL customers, not just Google; the rates Google pays in the SRC "support the development and on-going operation of Cypress Solar"; customers benefit by paying less than the full Cypress cost. - **Act 373 alignment (p. 6):** "[T]he Agreement is consistent with Act 373 of 2025... and EAL will use its proposed Rate Schedule No. 73, Strategic Investment Recovery Rider ('SIR Rider'), to help facilitate the deployment of incremental renewable resources needed to support the provision of service under the SRC." - **Other rate-class context (p. 9):** Palmer references Arkansas's 2024 ranking as "the 12th best state in which to do business" per Area Development's 2024 Top States for Doing Business survey, and asserts that Google-type customers could raise the ranking. - **What's sealed in this testimony:** the effective date of the SRC; the magnitude of Google's investment / load / contract demand; specific Cypress allocation percentages; the net-benefit figure (Palmer references "Ms. Fielder projects that Cypress Solar will yield net benefits of at least $___" — the dollar figure is redacted); the SRC ramp-up schedule. ## Cross-references See the [[psc/docket-25-055-p-special-contract-2026-05-22/_overview|Docket 25-055-P production overview]] for context. Companion testimony in [[psc/docket-25-055-p-special-contract-2026-05-22/_overview|25-054-U Cypress CECPN]].