[0:16] medium of joint energy will come

[0:18] to order apologize for the delay

[0:20] but we had an importantowerPoint

[0:22] we needed to get loaded so

[0:24] thank you for all being here on

[0:25] this beautiful cool day

[0:28] you're your meter is running in

[0:32] case you're wondering the

[0:32] chair would introduce a motion

[0:34] to approve the minutes of the

[0:36] August6th meeting moved by

[0:38] Senator Mcee is there a second

[0:40] Representative Beck Second all

[0:41] in favor say aye

[0:44] pose thank you that's approved

[0:48] we will move on to item C

[0:48] discussion of data center

[0:50] development in Arkansas our

[0:51] first witness is Miss Rachel

[0:53] Wilson with Google. Miss Wilson,

[0:55] I think we got your uhowerPoint

[0:57] loaded and please come to the

[0:57] table

[1:02] and

[1:06] if you'll pull that mic close to

[1:09] you and push that button and

[1:09] identify yourself

[1:11] for the record

[1:17] my name is Rachel Wilson and I'm

[1:18] with Google.

[1:19] thank you ma'am. you're

[1:22] recognized to begin your

[1:22] presentation oh and you do have

[1:24] a handout that was also

[1:28] if people look if you don't have

[1:30] it ask the staff but you should

[1:31] also have a handn handout

[1:34] ok please proceed thank you good

[1:35] afternoon Chairman Johnson,

[1:36] Chairman Mcairn members of the

[1:38] committeechnology never ceases

[1:40] to surprise us I will say after

[1:42] this so thank you so much for

[1:44] having me today it's great to be

[1:45] able to talk to you about

[1:46] Google's data centers more

[1:49] broadly and are specific data

[1:49] centers that are under

[1:50] construction in Arkansas.

[1:54] I think there's a lot of

[1:56] unknowns or misconceptions about

[1:57] what a data center is and what

[2:00] it does it is not exclusively

[2:01] for the purposes of AI

[2:02] development Google's data

[2:04] centers power all of our

[2:07] products that we either give or

[2:08] sell to customers and I'm sure

[2:10] many of you in this room use

[2:12] many of those products you can

[2:14] see from these icons here those

[2:16] include searchch, Chrome cloud,

[2:19] Youube which my children cannot

[2:21] get off of so I appreciate

[2:21] the the

[2:24] demands that's happening in my

[2:26] own house it's not just your'm

[2:28] glad to hear that gmail maps all

[2:29] of the things that we do in our

[2:31] daily lives using one of our

[2:33] many devices those google

[2:34] products are powered by google's

[2:35] data centers.

[2:39] we have32 locations for our

[2:41] owned and operated data centers

[2:43] across four continents. This map

[2:45] shows the data centers that are

[2:46] operational there are also a

[2:48] number of data centers that we

[2:49] have under construction that are

[2:51] not yet shown on this map but

[2:52] when those facilities are

[2:54] energized we will add them here

[2:56] and we keep this page up to date

[2:59] on our website not a website

[3:00] gives information about our data

[3:02] centers and all of the locations

[3:03] more broadly if you're

[3:05] interested in a specific su if

[3:05] we were to go to the website

[3:08] we could zoom in on that big

[3:10] bunch of dots in the US that's

[3:12] correct and you could see

[3:13] exactly where each of those dots

[3:14] are sighted there are a couple

[3:16] of locations here that are

[3:18] actually home to more than one

[3:19] data center so you can see the

[3:20] low country in South Carolina

[3:22] that actually hosts two that are

[3:24] operational in one that's under

[3:25] construction so there are some

[3:28] facilities where one

[3:29] particular location hosts

[3:29] multiple sites.

[3:34] here in arkansas we have one

[3:36] data center that is currently

[3:37] under construction in West

[3:38] Memphis we announced that site

[3:40] last year. it represents a4

[3:42] billion dollars capital

[3:44] investment from Google and we've

[3:46] partnered with Entergy to cover

[3:49] the full cost of service for our

[3:51] demand at that site entergy's

[3:52] analysis showed that over the

[3:54] lifetime of our 20 year contract

[3:57] that contract will yield $1.1

[3:58] billion in net benefits to

[4:01] Arkansas ratepayers and that

[4:01] contract also supports the

[4:04] development of a project called

[4:06] Cyprus solar which is a600

[4:08] megawatt solar and350 megawatt

[4:09] battery storage facility

[4:12] as I mentioned that site is

[4:13] currently under construction we

[4:15] are undergoing grading and

[4:17] substation prep now but things

[4:19] change very rapidly and that

[4:20] site is expecting to be

[4:22] energized in 2027.

[4:25] Here in littlettleRock we do

[4:27] have a site for data center

[4:28] development we're currently

[4:31] engaged in the very extensive

[4:34] due diligence process we are

[4:35] engaged with our stakeholders

[4:36] listening to the needs of the

[4:40] community and the desires around

[4:41] development at that particular

[4:44] site we had filed for a wetlands

[4:46] permit initially we've pulled

[4:48] that permit subsequently and are

[4:49] currently making the necessary

[4:50] modifications before we refile

[4:56] as you can see from this chart

[5:00] and from the site map that

[5:01] doesn't yet show those data

[5:02] centers that are under construct

[5:04] or those data centers that are

[5:05] under construction are not yet

[5:06] shown on this map Google's

[5:08] energy demand is growing

[5:12] exponentially over time and

[5:12] it is this energy demand that is

[5:13] fueling

[5:16] demand in the markets for power

[5:17] from our utility partners.

[5:22] what are we doing about that a

[5:22] couple of things because we

[5:24] found that the traditional

[5:26] utility model of building large

[5:28] scale generation projects that

[5:30] take multiple years aren't

[5:34] meeting the desire for speed to

[5:34] construct the infrastructure

[5:36] that Google needs to serve its

[5:38] customers so we've had to

[5:40] rethink some of the traditional

[5:42] business models for power we

[5:43] rely very heavily on our

[5:44] industry and utility partners to

[5:46] help us come up with these

[5:48] solutions to build projects that

[5:49] meet Goog

[5:52] g le ' s customer demand. We

[5:52] have a customer demand for

[5:54] specific types of energy and in

[5:56] order to retain those customers

[5:57] we need to meet that demand

[6:00] and so we rely on our partners

[6:02] to help us think creatively

[6:04] implement these solutions build

[6:06] generation projects like cyprus

[6:06] solar but that could also

[6:10] include small modular reactors

[6:12] operates at existing nuclear

[6:14] units advanced storage at longer

[6:16] durations these new types of

[6:18] things that will enable clean

[6:20] power at scale and delivered

[6:21] to our customers

[6:28] those policies come for come

[6:30] forward in our contract

[6:30] frameworks that we have with

[6:32] Entergy and others we have

[6:34] collaborated closely with a

[6:36] number of different utilities

[6:37] across the country to implement

[6:39] a certain number of principles

[6:40] to protect ratepayers against

[6:42] bearing the burden of Google's

[6:44] energy cost so those principles

[6:46] include long term commitments

[6:48] our contracts with our utilities

[6:50] are typically at least 15 years

[6:52] Our contract here with

[6:54] enterntery is 20 years it

[6:54] includes minimum billing demands

[6:58] and what that means is we commit

[7:00] to paying a high percentage of

[7:02] our ultimate demand in minimum

[7:04] bills every month regardless of

[7:06] whether we use that volume of

[7:07] energy or not so when we say

[7:10] we're paying 80% of our

[7:12] contracted demand we will pay

[7:12] that regardless of whether our

[7:16] use is50%60% and if it's above

[7:18] 80% we'll pay the additional on

[7:19] top of those minimum bills

[7:24] we provide extensive upfront

[7:26] collateral and we have stringent

[7:29] exit and termination fees so if

[7:30] Google decides that it's that

[7:32] Arkansas is no longer a feasible

[7:34] market and we need to exit that

[7:36] contract. oftentimes we we wind

[7:39] up paying the completion as if

[7:40] the contract were fulfilled and

[7:42] exit fees and we do that so that

[7:44] customers are not left holding

[7:45] the bill for infrastructure that

[7:47] we've asked the utility to

[7:47] develop to power our data

[7:48] centers

[7:52] so in this way we're helping to

[7:54] bring relief to repairs

[7:56] spreading the portion of fixed

[7:59] costs on the utility system over

[8:01] our larger load which results in

[8:02] net savings to other ratepayers

[8:03] on the system

[8:07] Some of the energy highlights

[8:09] that all mention here we've

[8:10] partnered with a number of

[8:12] developers to bring new types of

[8:14] technology to the grid on the

[8:16] nuclear front we're looking at

[8:18] repowering existing facilities

[8:20] that have shut down across the

[8:21] US one of the most recent

[8:22] examples is our partnership with

[8:24] Nexxtera Energy to restart the

[8:26] Duanne Arnold power plant in

[8:28] Iowa we're also looking at

[8:30] development of small modular

[8:32] reactors we have a partnership

[8:34] with an entity calledairos

[8:34] Energy for50

[8:38] 0 megawatts online by 2035, the

[8:40] first project broke ground last

[8:42] year that is with TVA in

[8:44] Tennessee and it is a fi0

[8:46] megawatt project we're currently

[8:47] looking for a home for the

[8:50] additional450 megawatts and then

[8:52] we have a 200 megawatts

[8:53] partnership with Commonwealth

[8:56] Fusionystems the date on

[8:58] those technologies is still to

[8:59] be determined but we are looking

[9:00] to bring those forward as soon

[9:01] as possible.

[9:04] we're partnering on advanced

[9:06] geothermal technologies this is

[9:08] primarily targeted in the west

[9:10] at this point though I

[9:11] understand that Arkansas has

[9:12] some advanced geothermal

[9:14] potential in the southern part

[9:15] of the state. We are

[9:16] collaborating with an entity

[9:18] called Fervo on 115 megawatt

[9:20] contracts for a first of aki

[9:22] project in Nevada and then we're

[9:24] also working on a number of

[9:26] different long duration storage

[9:27] projects so these are batteries

[9:29] that are capable of injecting

[9:30] power into the grid for

[9:31] sustained amounts of time

[9:34] Currently the standard is

[9:35] lithium ion technologies which

[9:36] can release power for about four

[9:38] hours at maximum we're looking

[9:42] at projects that can do 8,12,24,

[9:44] even 100 hours and those will

[9:46] preserve reliability at lowest

[9:47] cost to customers and ratepayers

[9:52] in terms of the red the US

[9:54] transmission infrastructure is

[9:56] aging it needs replacement but

[9:57] construction of transmission

[9:58] lines is expensive and it takes

[10:00] a long time. So we've partnered

[10:04] with an entity calledctC Global

[10:06] to look at reconductoring lines

[10:08] which enables more power to flow

[10:10] through on an expedited timeline

[10:12] we're looking at using Google's

[10:14] own AI capabilities to speed

[10:17] interconnection times to look at

[10:19] weather forecasting that enables

[10:19] more optimal power

[10:22] operations and unit commitments

[10:24] and then we're using demand

[10:26] response that means when there

[10:27] is a situation where the grid is

[10:30] strained we will reduce demand

[10:31] at our data center site to

[10:33] alleviate that constraint and

[10:34] lower wholesale prices for

[10:36] customers that demand

[10:38] response is outlined in our west

[10:40] memphis contract with entergy so

[10:43] we agreed to a period of up to

[10:45] 10 hours for any event and then

[10:46] over 100 hours of the course of

[10:48] the year in which we will reduce

[10:49] our data center demand if called

[10:50] upon

[10:51] by the utility

[10:55] then lastly I want to highlight

[10:57] the energy affordability work

[10:58] that we're doing here in

[11:00] Arkansas alongside the

[11:02] announcement in September for

[11:04] the west memphis datata Center

[11:05] we also announced our west

[11:08] memphisnergy impact fund. That

[11:09] fund commits over 25 million

[11:12] or'm5 million dollars over five

[11:13] years to improve energy

[11:14] affordability for low income

[11:16] customers it is focused at this

[11:18] point on West Memphis and

[11:20] Crittenon County looking at

[11:22] weatherization and

[11:22] preweatherization so there's

[11:23] health and

[11:25] safety repairs that are needed

[11:28] to enable low income customers

[11:29] to qualify for weatherization

[11:29] services.

[11:33] we also announced just a few

[11:34] months ago our commitment to an

[11:36] additional5 million dollars in

[11:38] health and safety improvements

[11:40] weatherization services

[11:40] community solar and energy

[11:43] efficiency upgrades for schools

[11:45] as part of our announcement

[11:47] about the Stee River facility.

[11:50] Steele River is the US's largest

[11:51] solar facility that is currently

[11:52] under construction in the town

[11:54] of Wilson and you can see that

[11:56] I've highlighted some of the

[11:58] partners that are enabling us to

[11:59] carry out these investments ICF

[12:00] who is

[12:03] entergy's implementation partner

[12:05] for energy efficiency services

[12:07] groundswell Crowwley'sridge

[12:08] Development Council and

[12:10] Elevatenergyround swell has been

[12:12] particularly active in this

[12:13] space they've moved I think

[12:15] over40 homes off of their list

[12:17] and are looking at a waitlist of

[12:20] 250 at this point so they are

[12:21] moving as quickly as they can to

[12:23] get through that list by the end

[12:25] of 2026. but I've included this

[12:27] testimonial here and it says

[12:28] after being residents in our

[12:29] home for over30 years it's as if

[12:30] we've

[12:32] moved into our house again for

[12:34] the very first time with all the

[12:36] new windows and attic insulation

[12:37] and these are west memphis

[12:38] residents whose home was

[12:40] recently retrofitted by

[12:42] groundswell and they agreed to

[12:43] talk about their story with

[12:43] Google and with you all.

[12:48] and I've just concluded with

[12:50] some views inside of our actual

[12:52] data centers so these are Google

[12:54] employees who you can see doing

[12:57] electrical repairs HAC repairs

[13:01] some welding so these are the

[13:02] people who are employed at

[13:03] Google's data centers just a

[13:04] small subset

[13:06] with that I'm happy to take

[13:07] questions.

[13:11] thank you

[13:15] M Wilson I had one just quick

[13:16] question you mentioned the

[13:18] advanced conductors for your

[13:20] transmission lines this is where

[13:22] we'll just say the wire I know

[13:22] it's may be some other kind of

[13:26] cable but the wires are being

[13:27] would be retrofitted to

[13:29] something that's more efficient

[13:31] and would either not eliminate

[13:33] but but diminish the amount of

[13:36] line loss over the distance

[13:38] that's it has to travel and my

[13:39] understanding that they

[13:41] essentially apply a coating to

[13:41] the existing wire which

[13:44] allows it more electrons to pass

[13:46] through that wire in any given

[13:48] moment and and for people who

[13:50] aren't aware that I attended a a

[13:51] meeting where this was described

[13:53] it's there's a significant

[13:55] amount of line loss went from

[13:56] where something's generated to

[13:58] where it's final delivered to

[14:00] the the end user and that's

[14:02] efficiency that you know that's

[14:04] that's like adding more capacity

[14:05] if you can get this efficiency

[14:06] so that's without needing to

[14:08] build new infrastructure

[14:11] well we'll go straight to

[14:14] questions uhpresentativeladyman

[14:16] you are recognized I'm over here

[14:18] way over here's up there thank

[14:21] you Mr Chairman. a couple of

[14:24] questions are any of your

[14:26] current data centers

[14:27] self-powered in other words do

[14:29] they have their own power source

[14:32] or are they all grid operated.

[14:33] If you think back to that map

[14:35] that I showed you, there are no

[14:37] locations on that map that have

[14:38] onsite generation that is being

[14:39] used to power the data

[14:42] center that is something that

[14:44] google looks at when we're

[14:44] considering data center

[14:48] development policies have to be

[14:50] in in place in a state in order

[14:52] to enable that solution and so

[14:54] there are I think some locations

[14:56] in Texas where we're looking to

[14:58] construct a new data center and

[15:00] use onsite power for generation

[15:04] in general our our preference

[15:05] is to be grid connected and to

[15:06] work with our utility partners

[15:08] in the states in which we're

[15:09] located in order to bring

[15:12] those generation solutions to

[15:14] the grid and to other ratepayers

[15:16] thank you for that one more Mr

[15:17] chairman if you could go go

[15:18] right ahead sir

[15:21] you know we we heard a lot of

[15:22] things and things in the

[15:24] newspaper. some I think are

[15:26] correct. I think some of them

[15:27] are not correct.

[15:29] one of the things that we

[15:32] read about is the water usage

[15:34] can are you able to answer, I

[15:36] mean can you give us an idea of

[15:38] water usage. I know some of the

[15:40] sites or the data centers

[15:40] recirculate their water

[15:43] can you give us an idea of how

[15:44] much water a

[15:47] average sized data center or

[15:47] typical sized data center would

[15:48] use

[15:50] I can speak to that at a very

[15:52] high level and what I will say

[15:54] is that it's incredibly site

[15:56] specific but also developerc

[15:58] specific. there are some folks

[15:59] out there who are developing

[16:00] data centers who use the same

[16:02] technology in all of their sites

[16:04] google takes a different

[16:05] approach. Our approach is one

[16:08] that is very sitesific. it looks

[16:10] at the availability of the

[16:11] resource in the community, the

[16:12] quality of the resource in the

[16:14] community the existing

[16:16] infrastructure the need for any

[16:17] potential upgrades and then we

[16:18] make those sciing decision

[16:21] s or the the infrastructure

[16:23] decisions around both

[16:26] constraints and opportunities so

[16:28] each of our data centers may use

[16:30] a technology that is unique to

[16:32] that particular site and that is

[16:34] absolutely an area where we will

[16:36] look for community input on the

[16:37] type of solution that they would

[16:38] want to see so would it be

[16:40] possible to put it in an area

[16:40] like northwest Arkansas where

[16:43] there's very little water and

[16:45] is there a technique that you

[16:47] could use to do that? West

[16:47] memphis actually is using a dry

[16:48] cooling

[16:51] technology and that was not the

[16:53] original plan but when faced

[16:54] with certain constraints on the

[16:56] system we had to pivot and then

[16:58] select that dry cooling so yes

[16:59] in areas that are water

[17:01] constrained there is an option

[17:01] for that thank you

[17:07] thank youpresentative ladyman

[17:10] now when you say dry cooling is

[17:11] this you know

[17:14] like an old Vvolkswagen that's

[17:16] air cooled is it like that as

[17:18] opposed to something that has a

[17:19] recirculating liquid

[17:24] is that analogous to that and I

[17:26] will say that there's when

[17:28] you're looking at cooling

[17:30] solutions that useless water

[17:32] there's a tradeoff that comes

[17:33] with that because water is the

[17:35] most efficient way to cool

[17:36] anything that's hot and so when

[17:38] you're using dry cooled

[17:42] solutions you in turn using more

[17:44] energy. so we have to look at

[17:45] both sides of the coin so

[17:48] running that fan costs more

[17:49] energy than running a water pump

[17:49] OK.

[17:52] great uhpresentative beck you're

[17:53] recognized

[17:54] thank you Mr Chair

[17:59] I I had a couple of questions

[18:01] you you were talking about the

[18:03] coding on the wire increasing

[18:05] the efficiency in the land law

[18:07] de decreasing the land loss

[18:08] for the transmission

[18:10] you didn't have a number I'm an

[18:11] engineer you didn't have a

[18:14] number is that like 20% I don't

[18:16] know off the top of my head but

[18:17] I'm happy to get back to you on

[18:19] that after after this

[18:21] discussion. OK so that's the so

[18:22] the next and you might just give

[18:24] it back to the to the to the

[18:25] committee and that distributed

[18:26] out to us

[18:28] committee staff and we'll we'll

[18:30] see that everyone gets the

[18:30] answer thank you the

[18:34] the second question is you were

[18:36] talking about your demand

[18:38] contract that you have and you

[18:40] and I'm I might have heard wrong

[18:43] so you said for you can reduce

[18:45] your demand down to help

[18:48] stabilize the grid for 10 hours

[18:50] for10 hours in a single event

[18:52] and then 100 hours in total over

[18:53] the course of the year so it's

[18:55] 100 hours for the course of the

[18:55] year

[18:56] all right

[19:00] so just in general your other

[19:02] sites have you do you have

[19:04] similar contracts like that with

[19:07] at other sites and how has that

[19:09] played out in other words you

[19:10] know we've never used more

[19:11] than60 hours a year or something

[19:12] like that

[19:15] that's right it is the demand

[19:17] response is a relatively new

[19:18] provision that we're writing

[19:20] into our contract so I believe

[19:23] entergy was the third utility

[19:26] with which we made this type of

[19:27] partnership agreement Indiana

[19:30] Michigan is another and the name

[19:32] of the third is escaping me at

[19:34] the moment but we're looking to

[19:37] do this in in increasing

[19:39] amounts in new utility contracts

[19:41] as we are able there are certain

[19:42] services for data center

[19:43] customers

[19:45] that have less ability to be

[19:48] curtailed than others so you

[19:49] would want your

[19:52] your google products to stay

[19:54] online and in emergency

[19:56] situations you want the

[19:58] emergency response team to still

[20:00] be there so those run through a

[20:02] data center so the ability to

[20:04] curtail is going to vary

[20:05] according to the site and the

[20:06] customers who are being served

[20:08] at that particular site but it

[20:10] is something that our team is

[20:12] actively working on to implement

[20:13] at as many locations as

[20:13] possible.

[20:15] one more if I may

[20:18] just this I'll tell you what

[20:19] I'll just get back into the I'll

[20:20] get back into the go ahead and

[20:22] back and I'll cut you off I

[20:22] think you're talking to

[20:26] so the the question I had was

[20:27] in that

[20:31] looking at distribution lines

[20:34] versus transmission lines and I

[20:36] know in your statement you

[20:36] you I know that you guys are

[20:38] saying that that you're you're

[20:40] paying for all the the equipment

[20:42] to to serve your facility

[20:45] you energy you've worked out a

[20:46] contract with them so my

[20:47] question is this

[20:48] there's distribution

[20:54] cost or distribution assets in

[20:56] infrastructure that that needs

[20:57] to maybe be increased or

[20:58] whatever like that and I'm I'm

[21:00] assuming you're paying for that

[21:01] because that's distribution but

[21:02] my question is on a bigger scale

[21:03] on the transmission

[21:07] for the transmission of of power

[21:09] in and out of the area where

[21:10] you're operating in

[21:14] and and this this work that

[21:17] you've done with the I think

[21:19] it saidctClobal

[21:20] I think it saidctClobal

[21:22] to help the transmission lines

[21:24] reduce the losses on those lines

[21:28] is that adequate enough I guess

[21:30] I'm concerned about transmission

[21:32] restraints you know there's

[21:33] there's there's there's

[21:35] transmission restraints within

[21:37] the distribution lines but

[21:38] there's also transmission

[21:42] restraints on the larger grid so

[21:44] can you fill in the gaps there a

[21:48] little bit for me iss is the

[21:52] is it CtClobalt are they gonna

[21:54] offset any kind of restrictions

[21:55] as far as

[21:58] the transmission side of this

[21:59] goes. I'm going to answer your

[22:00] question in two parts and the

[22:02] first part is related to the

[22:04] transmission infrastructure

[22:06] that's going to be used to serve

[22:08] google's load at West Memphis

[22:09] there was additional

[22:11] infrastructure that was needed

[22:13] at that facility and as part of

[22:14] the special rate contract with

[22:16] entergy there is a provision

[22:18] that google will pay for those

[22:19] upgrades and additional

[22:20] infrastructure that's needed

[22:24] thectClobalartnership is a

[22:25] separate partnership that

[22:28] is looking at reconductoring

[22:30] existing transmission lines and

[22:32] currently the way that that is

[22:34] structured was via an RfP

[22:36] process and so we put it out to

[22:38] all of the utilities and then we

[22:40] got responses from folks who are

[22:42] interested in partnering with

[22:44] Google. they submitted a

[22:45] response and detailed the

[22:46] project and the amount of

[22:48] investment that would be

[22:50] necessary I believe we have a

[22:50] team that is currently going

[22:53] through those responses now to

[22:54] select kind of the first round

[22:55] of winners

[22:58] google is ambitious and we

[23:00] want to reconductor the entire

[23:01] United States we just have to

[23:02] take it you know one chunk at a

[23:04] time. so while we don't have any

[23:06] plans yet for Arkansas, I hope

[23:08] that this will be another way

[23:09] that we can work with entergy to

[23:10] bring benefits to Arkansas

[23:11] ratepayers.

[23:12] thank you

[23:15] thank youpresentative

[23:17] senator Mcee you recognized

[23:25] you Mr Chairman and thank you

[23:28] Miss Wilson for being here

[23:28] you know there's a lot of

[23:30] communities that are concerned

[23:32] with different aspects different

[23:33] things they've seen on social

[23:34] media could you would you be

[23:36] willing to go through what you

[23:38] consider to be some of the most

[23:39] important questions those

[23:42] communities can ask whether it

[23:43] is Google that's developing the

[23:46] data center or whoever it is can

[23:47] you go to some of some of the

[23:48] most important questions you

[23:50] think are important for y'all to

[23:51] answer for those communities

[23:52] that's a great question I'm very

[23:53] glad

[23:55] you asked and I think there has

[23:57] been a lack of understanding in

[23:59] communities about what exactly

[24:01] those questions should be and

[24:04] how they can be asked to data

[24:06] center developers each of the

[24:07] developers approach things

[24:09] differently and so it is very

[24:10] important to have a forum where

[24:12] you can ask the questions and

[24:15] get answers that can enable you

[24:16] to make the best decision for

[24:20] your community I think we are

[24:20] seeing people who are very

[24:22] interested in energy use in

[24:23] water

[24:27] use sound appropriate buffers

[24:30] around facilities impacts on

[24:32] lands and wetlands

[24:36] community benefits what will

[24:38] the community wind up paying for

[24:40] what benefits can they be

[24:42] expected to get in return? how

[24:45] will those benefits flow down to

[24:47] residents and in what form?

[24:49] These are I'm giving you kind of

[24:51] topic areas as opposed to you

[24:53] know very specific questions but

[24:56] I think those are kind of an

[24:58] umbrella of things that

[24:59] communities are interested in

[25:03] and that need to be asked right

[25:04] at the outset of any of these

[25:05] proposals

[25:06] and I appreciate that answer

[25:08] what are some of the most

[25:09] important things states can do

[25:14] number one to ensure that you

[25:16] know the market's open for

[25:17] business and jobs and economic

[25:19] development but also to make

[25:20] sure that the people that we

[25:22] represent are protected from

[25:25] nefarious actors and folks who

[25:26] don't necessarily exercise the

[25:27] best practice

[25:32] think that there are many

[25:34] entities that are interested in

[25:36] this and so to the extent that

[25:38] you can work in partnership that

[25:39] is going to be most helpful so

[25:41] as not to step on each other's

[25:44] toes or avoid you know one

[25:46] entity kind of getting in the

[25:48] way of the other and by that I

[25:51] mean you know entergy for

[25:52] example has worked out specific

[25:54] provisions that are enabling

[25:58] ratepayer protections when data

[25:59] center loads come to town and so

[25:59] communication

[26:03] I think around those principles

[26:04] will be essential if the

[26:07] legislature were to take action

[26:08] at a state level say

[26:10] and there are states that have

[26:12] put in provisions around large

[26:16] load contracting what data

[26:18] centers must agree to I think

[26:20] there are some states who have

[26:22] weighed in on community benefits

[26:24] planning and what those

[26:25] benefits should look like

[26:30] it really comes down to the need

[26:33] I think in each state and

[26:34] every every state is going to be

[26:36] different so your response is

[26:37] not necessarily going to look

[26:40] the same as Texas but you

[26:41] know you want to make sure

[26:42] you're following the principles

[26:45] of ratepayer protection land use

[26:48] protection and then making

[26:49] sure that communities are

[26:50] receiving the services that they

[26:51] need.

[26:55] go ahead if when you leave

[26:57] here today and I I think you're

[26:58] probably going straight to the

[27:00] airport. We appreciate you

[27:01] taking questions but if you had

[27:02] to leave hoping that we came

[27:04] away or the folks that are

[27:06] watching online came away with

[27:06] one thing what's the most

[27:08] important thing that they should

[27:09] know about the industry that

[27:10] you're in and the development

[27:11] that we're seeing

[27:14] think in any

[27:16] any market where folks see that

[27:18] there is money to be made it

[27:20] invites a level of speculation

[27:22] and so you have a range of

[27:24] actors who are looking to

[27:26] develop data centers and it can

[27:30] be hard to differentiate the

[27:31] good actors from the bad actors.

[27:32] Google has demonstrated its

[27:34] commitment to doing data center

[27:36] development in the right way a

[27:38] way that protects Arkansas

[27:40] ratepayers in a way that brings

[27:41] benefits to the

[27:42] communities in which we're

[27:44] scited and so that is ultimately

[27:45] what I would like to leave you

[27:46] with today.

[27:48] thank you chairman

[27:48] thank you

[27:52] p re s ent ative I mean Senator

[27:54] Mcee and and also Miss Wilson

[27:56] for a good question and a great

[27:57] answer

[28:02] along that line I I just wanna

[28:02] say that can you clarify

[28:06] and most people in this room

[28:08] probably know it but generally I

[28:10] don't think people do the

[28:12] initial developer may not be

[28:15] one of the names we've heard

[28:18] like like google or or amazon or

[28:20] someone like that this is what

[28:21] you're speaking of where someone

[28:24] goes in and wants to build a

[28:26] facility or or start a facility

[28:28] that will turn around and sell

[28:29] to you or one of your other the

[28:30] other data companies as my

[28:32] reading that correctly a

[28:34] coworker of mine calls that a

[28:36] man a van and a plan and so that

[28:39] is somewhat facetious but also

[28:42] true in that there are folks

[28:43] out there who are looking to

[28:43] acquire

[28:44] land and yes construct a

[28:46] facility and ultimately sell it

[28:48] to someone but they don't yet

[28:50] know who that someone will be so

[28:52] it's total speculation in that

[28:53] regard ok thank you

[28:56] next representative in it

[28:57] you recognized

[29:01] thank you chairman. Hi, I'm

[29:04] Denise Sennett and the google

[29:06] that you're going to build on

[29:08] the port that's in my district

[29:10] and so I have a couple of

[29:12] questions about that can you

[29:13] talk about the timeline again

[29:16] we haven't yet developed a

[29:18] timeline. The timeline is going

[29:20] to be somewhat lengthy

[29:23] more than a year I can say for

[29:26] certain beyond that I don't know

[29:28] because those plans haven't yet

[29:29] taken shape. as I mentioned

[29:30] in my slides we're currently in

[29:32] our listening phase to figure

[29:34] out what the community would

[29:37] like to see in that space and

[29:38] how google can accommodate those

[29:39] needs

[29:44] ask course go right ahead yes so

[29:46] in the sweet home community who

[29:47] have you spoken with in the

[29:48] community?

[29:52] so my job as an energy market

[29:54] development so I am primarily

[29:56] tasked with our regulatory

[29:58] relationships and working on our

[29:59] our power acquisition with

[30:02] entergy we have a public affairs

[30:03] team we have a community

[30:04] development team and those are

[30:06] the folks who are typically on

[30:08] the ground speaking with

[30:09] community members and getting

[30:10] their viewpoints

[30:16] one more

[30:20] so when you

[30:23] so how does that work after you

[30:26] get everything start building

[30:28] are you going to start acBA or

[30:30] do you start a CBA before you

[30:31] start building the

[30:34] data center? how does that work?

[30:36] Typically it's before we start

[30:37] building we would at least enter

[30:39] into discussions with the

[30:40] relevant folks to determine what

[30:42] those community benefits are

[30:44] going to look like and then

[30:46] it would absolutely be in place

[30:48] by the time the data center is

[30:49] constructed but you know

[30:51] depending on the the length of

[30:54] those discussions you know it

[30:55] could progress alongside the

[30:57] construction timeline and I

[30:59] would just like to be kept

[31:00] apprised of that when you start

[31:01] doing that thank you

[31:06] thank youpresentative Bennett

[31:07] uhpresentative macgruder

[31:12] who represents west memphis you

[31:14] recognize Mcgrew he saidmcgrew

[31:15] there

[31:20] thank you Mr chair for allowing

[31:22] me to ask a question being

[31:24] that I'm not on this committee,

[31:26] I have three questions if

[31:28] that's OK Mr Chair just just

[31:29] shoot him yes sir thank you so

[31:32] much. my first question is

[31:34] well first the statement thank

[31:35] you for the $4 billion

[31:37] investment in Crittenon County

[31:38] being that I am a resident of

[31:40] Critan County. I do have a

[31:42] concern because you said

[31:44] there are areas that you all

[31:46] have started plants or gotten

[31:47] one going and then you had to

[31:47] shut down because

[31:49] it wasn't feasible

[31:53] No I'm sorry and I apologize if

[31:55] I misspoke that was a kind of a

[31:58] rhetorical statement if we

[32:01] were to exit a particular market

[32:02] customers would still be

[32:04] protected based on the

[32:05] provisions that are in our

[32:08] contract Google has never left a

[32:10] data center community Our

[32:10] earliest data centers were

[32:12] constructed in 2007 and those

[32:14] data centers are still at the

[32:16] same level of capacity they were

[32:18] when we constructed them and

[32:18] many of them have actually been

[32:19] expanded

[32:24] my next question is again about

[32:25] Qritan County

[32:28] how many employees do we

[32:29] anticipate that will be

[32:32] from Krittenney County or live

[32:33] inrittenney County at this

[32:34] facility. I don't have that

[32:36] number off the top of my head

[32:38] but we like to hire locally and

[32:40] that is our preference so as

[32:42] many folks from Crittenon County

[32:43] who would like to work for

[32:44] Google, I think we're happy to

[32:45] take them

[32:49] thank you so much and my last

[32:49] question Mr Chair

[32:53] Critan County I heard you

[32:56] speak about the investment of5

[32:57] million dollars a year over five

[32:59] years which is a total of $25

[33:01] million in Critan County

[33:05] are we allowing anybody in

[33:07] Qritan County or they're just

[33:09] focused on one area in Qutney

[33:10] County. It is anyone in

[33:12] Crittenon County it is focused

[33:14] on low income residents and so

[33:16] groundu the the partners that I

[33:18] mentioned Groundswell ICF and

[33:19] Crowley'sridge Development

[33:19] Council have been working

[33:20] together

[33:24] to create ways to spread the

[33:26] word about the program and

[33:28] create intake forms. I think

[33:30] there's actually a website where

[33:32] people can enter their name,

[33:35] their address into into that

[33:38] site and be put on a list for a

[33:39] visit to talk about the

[33:40] potential for these health and

[33:41] safety repairs and

[33:43] weatherization services well if

[33:44] possible Miss Wilson can you

[33:46] share that information with

[33:48] the committee so that we can

[33:49] make sure we pass it on to the

[33:50] residents of Crindon

[33:51] County.

[33:52] thank you so much to

[33:53] you

[33:56] thank youpresentative McGruder

[33:57] uhpresentative Barnett

[33:58] you're recognized

[34:07] Thank you chair

[34:11] Hi Miss Wilson thank you for

[34:13] coming and sharing with us of

[34:16] your presentation. I do have a

[34:17] question

[34:19] really one of clarification. I

[34:20] know that you spoke about the

[34:23] West memphisnergympactund which

[34:26] is approximately $25 million.

[34:28] a few months ago there was an

[34:30] announcement regarding the

[34:32] greater west memphis Energy

[34:34] Affordability Fund which was

[34:37] another one.25 million so are

[34:38] those two separate

[34:44] things and greater west memphis

[34:48] fund is part of that west

[34:50] memphis umgy impact fund and it

[34:53] is a carve out of that 1.25

[34:55] million that is meant to

[34:56] be

[35:00] allocated by members of the

[35:02] community and so we assembled an

[35:04] advisory board of local folks

[35:07] who are taking applications

[35:10] for different energy projects

[35:11] and they're making a decision

[35:14] about how to allocate that $1.25

[35:16] million within the community. OK

[35:17] and as it relates to the

[35:19] composition of that board I know

[35:20] we had a previous email on

[35:22] May2nd where we talked about

[35:26] there being 80% of that board

[35:26] makeup from Crittenon County in

[35:27] west Memphis

[35:30] and then there's 20% that is

[35:32] from Memphis and Shelby County

[35:35] and could you provide

[35:38] explanation as to why that 20%

[35:40] is for Memphis and Shelby

[35:42] County. So there are

[35:43] organizations in Memphis are

[35:45] also invited to apply for

[35:48] funding and so because those

[35:50] organizations could potentially

[35:52] ask to be grant recipients

[35:54] then we thought it wise to

[35:56] include representatives from

[35:57] Memphis as part of the board

[36:00] I have seen the applications

[36:02] and I cannot recall if anyone

[36:04] from any organization in Memphis

[36:06] opted to apply at this time but

[36:09] that is an option for funding

[36:09] if people so chose

[36:14] has been given to

[36:15] allow

[36:19] other counties in Arkansas to

[36:22] apply and primarily because you

[36:24] are developing in west

[36:26] memphis and west memphis

[36:27] school district is actually a

[36:30] dual county school district and

[36:32] so what Saint Francis County for

[36:34] instance with someone

[36:36] communities from that county be

[36:38] able to apply for that

[36:40] particular fund. I think we view

[36:42] this this affordability fund

[36:44] as a starting point and we would

[36:45] love to be able

[36:48] to expand our footprint to

[36:51] include more counties with I

[36:52] mentioned an additional5 million

[36:54] dollars that had come as part of

[36:56] the Steeriver project

[36:59] announcement so because that

[37:00] project is located in

[37:02] Mississippi County a portion of

[37:03] that5 million dollars is going

[37:05] to weatherization in that county

[37:08] and then as another component of

[37:10] that fund we also created a fund

[37:12] for Arkansas schools and so that

[37:14] is intended to serve the

[37:15] rivercre

[37:18] s t school district but also the

[37:19] littlettleRock school district

[37:20] and the pulaski Countypecial

[37:22] school district so we are doing

[37:26] a slow expansion and I just ask

[37:28] for your patience and support

[37:31] as we roll that out. OK and 11

[37:32] last quick question yes sir. So

[37:38] I thank you for sharing earlier

[37:41] a clarification on as it relates

[37:42] to these weatherization grants

[37:45] and that they do include

[37:48] Crittin County residents outside

[37:50] of West Memphis because I was

[37:52] at a meeting where I asked that

[37:54] particular question of a city

[37:55] official and a primarily told me

[37:57] that it was going to benefit

[37:59] those that were in West Memphis.

[38:01] so one thing that I would like

[38:02] to know is it possible to get a

[38:04] percentage of those that have

[38:05] applied through the West memphis

[38:08] Energympact Fund, what

[38:10] percentage of those applicants

[38:13] that will be awarded are from

[38:15] the city of West Memphis and or

[38:18] rural Crittenon County and I ask

[38:20] that because the data center

[38:22] development is pretty close to a

[38:24] rural unincorporated community

[38:26] and I know some of those

[38:28] residents have concerns they

[38:31] also would like to meet with

[38:32] Google so that they can get

[38:33] their answers

[38:36] to their questions answered

[38:38] directly and so I I just kind of

[38:39] wanted to know if you could

[38:40] speak to that any Yes I'm happy

[38:42] to get you those numbers. What I

[38:44] will say in advance of providing

[38:46] them is that the different

[38:47] organizations that we've

[38:49] partnered with are covering

[38:51] different parts of either

[38:52] Crittenon County or West

[38:56] Memphis.roundswell has been very

[38:57] quick to

[39:00] start providing services I'll

[39:02] say as I mentioned they've

[39:04] already done40 houses they have

[39:06] a 250 household waiting list at

[39:08] this point other partners who

[39:10] serve areas outside West Memphis

[39:12] haven't been quite so quick to

[39:14] roll out their services and so

[39:17] again those numbers may look

[39:20] a little skewed at this point

[39:22] but we're expecting that as soon

[39:24] as the funds have been deployed

[39:25] to their fullest extent that

[39:26] will bring those other numbers

[39:27] up to the same standard

[39:30] if you could get us that

[39:32] percentage breakdown I would

[39:34] appreciate that please provide

[39:36] that to the committee M Wilson

[39:38] and we'll see a point of contact

[39:39] for that we'll see

[39:40] thatpresentative barnett gets it

[39:42] as long and I'm sure it'll spark

[39:43] some interest with others if

[39:44] you'll just share that

[39:46] information with the committee

[39:47] and I understand this is this is

[39:50] an ongoing fund this is not a

[39:52] snapshot this will be a a long

[39:53] term thing but if you could give

[39:55] us a a snapshot of maybe where

[39:56] we are this month and I'm

[39:57] sure that would please the

[39:58] people

[40:00] over in that area to know that

[40:01] yes definitely thank you

[40:02] Representative Barnett

[40:03] Representative Joey Carr you

[40:04] recognized

[40:08] thank you Mr chairir just a

[40:10] quick question you said that

[40:12] it was a 20 year contract

[40:14] with entergy yes what's the

[40:16] expected longevity on the on the

[40:19] center in at the end of whatever

[40:20] its life is what what happens

[40:21] then

[40:24] I don't know because it's never

[40:25] we've never come to an end of

[40:28] life for a data center yet in

[40:29] addition to the twentyy year

[40:31] contract period if we don't say

[40:32] that we want to terminate that

[40:34] contract it will automatically

[40:36] renew for an additional term

[40:38] you know until Google says we're

[40:40] ready for this to end and we've

[40:43] not done that in a community yet

[40:45] so I don't have any concrete

[40:47] examples to point to. I would

[40:50] expect that like anything

[40:50] that's decommissioned we would

[40:51] seek to do that

[40:54] in a responsible way that is

[40:55] responsive to the needs of the

[40:55] community in which we're in.

[40:58] thank you thank you Mr chairir.

[41:00] thank you sir

[41:03] p re s ent ative m c g re w

[41:03] you're recognized

[41:04] thank you miss chairman

[41:08] and thank you for being here and

[41:10] sharing with us today on the

[41:12] with the demand of of power

[41:14] going up in Arkansas pretty

[41:16] drastically now is there any

[41:17] ability I know that your load is

[41:20] pretty standard and stays on if

[41:23] if in the ability that some load

[41:24] needs to be shed because of a

[41:27] demand that hits is their

[41:29] ability within Google to shed

[41:29] some of that load

[41:32] and that is a part of those

[41:34] demand response provisions that

[41:35] we have with entergy that I

[41:37] mentioned at west memphis so in

[41:40] the event of a grid stress

[41:42] period Google will agree if

[41:44] called upon to reduce our load

[41:46] for a certain number of hours

[41:48] for a certain number of events

[41:50] per year. We are also looking at

[41:52] potentially in the future

[41:54] implementing distributed

[41:56] solutions so that could be

[41:58] additional energy efficiency. it

[41:59] could be a battery storage

[42:02] residential households and so

[42:04] there are a number of ways that

[42:07] one can either reduce demand or

[42:09] add capacity to alleviate that

[42:10] grid stress and we're looking at

[42:11] all of the options thank you

[42:16] thank you Representative Mcgreg

[42:18] Representative Torriess you

[42:19] recognize yes thank you Mr

[42:21] Chair. Just one quick clarifying

[42:23] question you had mentioned

[42:25] infrastructure and who pays for

[42:26] it and I think you said

[42:29] generation and transmission is a

[42:31] part of that what about

[42:32] substations or distribution

[42:36] would lump that into the

[42:37] transmission infrastructure

[42:40] component and so for the

[42:41] substation that was needed at

[42:42] west memphis google that was

[42:44] included in the payment that

[42:46] Google made for the transit

[42:48] transmission component

[42:49] thank you so much youg thank you

[42:54] with with no well I think

[42:56] you did get back in the queue

[42:57] Representative beck you're

[42:57] recognized

[43:01] and he's an engineer he didn't

[43:04] get pickup I am not but I wish I

[43:05] was thank you and

[43:07] and please don't take these

[43:08] questions as a negative because

[43:11] I I do believe you know the data

[43:13] centers I I think we support

[43:15] them and I do I do support them

[43:18] but I am concerned about this

[43:20] demand agreement and I'm really

[43:23] the the 100 hours a year you

[43:25] know we had winter storm Yuri

[43:26] that would have exceeded that

[43:30] time period and that would have

[43:31] been a you know and I'm just

[43:32] saying that would have been a

[43:33] time when we needed power

[43:35] and

[43:38] google's own contract would have

[43:39] said ok we we we did our

[43:42] four days and a few hours and

[43:43] we're back

[43:48] I I'm just concerned about the

[43:50] length of that other than that I

[43:52] sounds like you guys are doing a

[43:54] dynamite job at making sure

[43:55] everything's all right but but

[43:57] we've just seen that here and

[43:59] we just don't want to and by the

[44:00] way I got the information

[44:01] googleling it I saw

[44:04] so thank you very much for

[44:06] coming and talking with us but I

[44:09] do have a concern about that I

[44:10] think there are a number of ways

[44:13] to address reliability and in

[44:15] the in light of winter storm

[44:18] Yuri the utilities are exploring

[44:20] all of those avenues so

[44:23] adding capacity hardening the

[44:26] grid adding capacity at

[44:28] specific sites is helpfulman

[44:30] response not just from Google

[44:31] but from other large industrial

[44:31] customers is

[44:34] going to be essential and so

[44:37] in a an event of a winter

[44:39] stormuri you really need to call

[44:42] on all of those solutions to be

[44:43] able to ride through that event

[44:46] they are few but they can be

[44:50] catastrophic if we don't respond

[44:51] to them in the right way and

[44:53] so I think entergy is like its

[44:55] other utility partners looking

[44:57] to explore all of those avenues

[44:58] connecting with its neighboring

[45:01] utilities to be able to share

[45:01] power

[45:04] when an event like that hits the

[45:06] grid to avoid some of those

[45:06] impacts that we've seen

[45:08] historically from those winter

[45:09] storm events

[45:12] thank you for answering that

[45:13] question I

[45:16] I appreciate Representative

[45:18] Beck is he's one of our more

[45:20] technically oriented members and

[45:21] his former co-chair so you've

[45:22] got a lot of tools in the

[45:24] toolbox he's got he's got all

[45:26] that M Wilson any final

[45:27] thoughts

[45:30] just that Senator Mcee was right

[45:32] and that I do have to head to

[45:34] the airport shortly after this

[45:35] but I'm happy to respond to

[45:36] additional questions if there

[45:38] are any and we've noted the

[45:40] questions that were asked today

[45:41] that require a response to the

[45:42] committee and I'm happy to

[45:44] provide those as quickly as I

[45:46] can. thank you you were very

[45:48] informative witness and we

[45:50] may very well be taking you up

[45:51] on additional information would

[45:52] love to continue the

[45:53] conversation and thank you so

[45:54] much for having me today you

[46:00] next we'll move to item C2

[46:03] west memphis we have

[46:04] mayyor McClendon was not able to

[46:08] be here today Mr Bobby Atkins

[46:09] who's a general manager of West

[46:12] Memphis Utilities and Mr Eric

[46:14] forrester who's superintendent

[46:14] of West Memphis School District

[46:16] if y'all both come to the table

[46:17] please

[46:20] and Erio get you all set up

[46:21] and

[46:24] the same same

[46:29] routine just you will identify

[46:30] yourselves the record and then I

[46:31] will recognize you one at a time

[46:48] Thank you Mr Chairman for the

[46:49] opportunity to be here please

[46:50] identify yourself for the record

[46:52] so my name's Eric Foister. I'm

[46:53] the superintendent of schools of

[46:54] West Memphis and

[46:58] Mr Atkins please do the same

[47:02] yes good afternoon my name is

[47:03] Bob atkins. I'm the general

[47:04] manager of West memphis

[47:06] Utilities. thank you Now your

[47:08] first on the list Mroster so

[47:10] we'll just let you go first so

[47:12] I'm here because I'm in the

[47:15] kid business and my job is to

[47:18] ensure the education of our

[47:20] of our youth and as we know

[47:21] we're at the forefront of

[47:21] education with AI

[47:26] and so I have to figure out ways

[47:28] to not only educate students but

[47:30] educate our staff on what that

[47:31] looks like

[47:34] and so when I first came to west

[47:36] memphis in December of 24 I had

[47:37] no idea Google was coming

[47:41] had no idea so I'm gonna talk

[47:42] about the kid business I'm gonna

[47:43] talk about the people business

[47:44] because that's what my business

[47:46] is so so I'm gonna tell a story

[47:47] so the day after the ribbon

[47:48] cutting

[47:51] and she she alluded there's

[47:52] different groups to google they

[47:54] came and she sat across from the

[47:56] table from me and she looks at

[47:57] me and she goes OK what's on

[47:57] your wish list?

[48:00] and I had no idea what I mean I

[48:01] mean how many people does that

[48:03] to you right as a superintendent

[48:05] of schools so and so I didn't

[48:06] have really much time to think

[48:07] but I already kind of had a

[48:10] thought that I wanted a pathway

[48:11] for our students to go right

[48:12] into the workforce at west

[48:14] memphis we we have kids that's

[48:16] almost70% of our kids do not go

[48:18] to a two or four year college

[48:19] they go right in the workforce.

[48:20] so it's my job to educate on

[48:22] what they could do but it's also

[48:23] provide opportunities so I said

[48:24] I wanted a four year pathway

[48:26] that when they graduate from

[48:27] high school they could go work

[48:27] for you in the AI and cy

[48:29] ber se cur ity well that's come

[48:32] to fruition so this fall we have

[48:33] our first cohort of kids and

[48:34] it's it's life changing for our

[48:38] kids the opportunity

[48:40] I'm not in the data centers I

[48:41] couldn't even tell you who else

[48:42] has got a data center so what I

[48:44] could tell you who I want to

[48:44] partner with to learn more about

[48:46] AI and that's Google and that's

[48:49] why I'm here and to to share the

[48:52] experiences that we've had and

[48:53] not only has it been life

[48:54] changing for some of our kids

[48:55] and with the profession I'm

[48:56] gonna show a quick video to to

[48:57] illust

[48:59] rate that but it is opened up

[49:01] doors in our community that I

[49:02] never thought would have been

[49:04] possible and I live inriney

[49:04] County have lived inritney

[49:05] County for five years.

[49:07] so

[49:10] we now have communications with

[49:12] our college about hey what are

[49:14] some other companies are coming

[49:15] what what kind of pathways can

[49:17] we build? she showed the graphic

[49:20] about the jobs we need HVvac we

[49:22] need construction that's my job

[49:23] to now provide that it's opened

[49:24] up it's created the demand for

[49:26] us to really focus in on

[49:28] providing those opportunities

[49:30] for our kids and that's my job

[49:31] and that's that's what I'm

[49:32] passionate about I'm very

[49:35] proactive I I think outside

[49:35] the box and so does Goo

[49:39] g le and so the next thing that

[49:41] we did we did a summer

[49:42] program you'll see here quickly

[49:46] to expose our kindergarten to

[49:48] fifth grade with robotics with

[49:51] coding and this is not my world

[49:53] so I grew up I remember I was

[49:55] still teaching when Google came

[49:57] out right and everybody was

[49:59] fearful of google then, let

[50:00] alone what it is now with the AI

[50:02] tools that we're all most of us

[50:04] in here use it we either

[50:06] knowingly use it or use it for a

[50:09] purpose so I wanna get ahead

[50:10] of that we want to be at the

[50:11] forefront west memphis schools

[50:12] our community we want to be at

[50:13] the forefront of this

[50:15] and the only way I could do this

[50:16] is what the partnership of

[50:18] Google and quite frankly this

[50:20] has been a thought partner so

[50:22] I'd really like the opportunity

[50:24] Mr Chairman to show a quick

[50:26] video please please go ahead

[50:28] with it as you know we started a

[50:29] little late so I I want you to

[50:29] be able to get that in so go

[50:30] right ahead

[50:44] Technology is not decreasing in

[50:46] our lives it's it's increasing

[50:47] in our lives so how do we make

[50:49] sure that young people see

[50:50] themselves as leaders even in

[50:52] this space such that they can

[50:55] also happen to the technology

[50:55] instead of the technology

[50:56] happening to them

[51:02] we're at jackson Wonder

[51:03] Elementary School in West

[51:06] Memphis Arkansas this is a a

[51:07] creative innovative

[51:08] collaboration between a

[51:10] community organization like

[51:12] Coderu as well as a worldclas

[51:14] technology or company like

[51:16] Google as well as an

[51:17] innovative school district it's

[51:19] been a great partnership it

[51:20] started with Google one of the

[51:21] first things that came to me

[51:22] literally after the ribbon

[51:24] cutting is what's your wish list

[51:26] you're my number one wish list

[51:28] was for an opportunity for our

[51:29] kids to have a pathway through

[51:29] high school when

[51:32] they get done with high school

[51:33] they go right into the workforce

[51:34] with skills that can maybe work

[51:37] for google so to be able to code

[51:40] in fifth grade it's actually I

[51:41] actually really like it and I

[51:42] loveonor because you get to

[51:44] learn about new things. I love

[51:45] to see the light bulb go off and

[51:46] each and every one of them as

[51:48] they realize that the things

[51:49] that they're learning in terms

[51:51] of being tech producers none of

[51:52] that is rocket science. I hope

[51:55] that we kind of set the standard

[51:56] for how to embrace this, how to

[51:58] embrace the AI world I want

[51:59] other kids to know that

[52:02] learning about new things is

[52:04] actually good for y'all for your

[52:06] brain so you can know about them

[52:07] when you get to higher grades. I

[52:08] want students to come back to

[52:10] talk to our current students and

[52:12] tell them look this opened up my

[52:14] life to do this. Ultimately it's

[52:16] them deciding that this is

[52:16] something that they can do then

[52:18] believing that there's something

[52:20] that they can do and they need

[52:22] the guidance and support of

[52:23] those who believe in them.

[52:38] that's just a snapshot if you I

[52:40] invite anybody to come to our

[52:40] school district, I'll take you

[52:42] into a classroom or take you to

[52:44] a student that google is

[52:46] affected so either directly or

[52:49] indirectly so I understand

[52:50] the let me phrase it I don't

[52:52] understand all the politics

[52:53] that's not my world I don't want

[52:54] it to be my world. My world is

[52:57] is education but I know in my

[53:00] world I have600 employees for

[53:02] over4,000 students it's

[53:03] important for me to make sure I

[53:04] have all the information before

[53:05] I make judgment and before

[53:08] I make decisions and I think in

[53:10] today's world we sometimes jump

[53:12] at information that we don't

[53:14] really get all of it and I think

[53:15] we've all experienced that as of

[53:17] late and I was also have a

[53:18] saying that Facebook is not real

[53:21] to me other than an information

[53:23] tool anything else that's it I

[53:26] rely on face to face. I rely on

[53:28] relationships and and there's

[53:30] there's the google has done that

[53:31] they've they've proven they're

[53:33] not just a big brand they have

[53:34] proven that they're truly

[53:35] partners in this and I can

[53:38] I could sit here for hours on

[53:39] end but at this point I want

[53:40] to answer some questions that

[53:41] anybody might have OK.

[53:44] Mr Forrere I'll start out by

[53:46] saying thank you for what you're

[53:48] doing and and being proactive

[53:48] especially with your students

[53:50] and their you know just a few

[53:52] years ago these kids were born

[53:54] and now they're gonna be moving

[53:56] into a workforce that that

[53:57] you're helping prepare them for

[54:00] I hope you would be willing to

[54:02] maybe mentor some of your

[54:03] colleagues around the state that

[54:06] may be soon facing the same

[54:08] challenges that that you've been

[54:09] dealing with both in the good

[54:10] and the bad side so I hope that

[54:11] we can work out

[54:14] some manner in which you can

[54:16] mentor them and and tell them to

[54:18] what to watch out for and what

[54:20] things to take advantage of well

[54:22] I'm not sure mentor is the right

[54:23] word but work with because

[54:24] I'm sure I can get some ideas

[54:26] from them more so than us but I

[54:28] can tell us I can be I would be

[54:29] willing to do that and already

[54:30] have I've already had some

[54:32] superintendents reach out to

[54:33] say hey this is coming down the

[54:34] pipe or possibly what can you

[54:36] tell me so I'm all about it we

[54:38] we're wide open in our city wide

[54:39] open in our schools and I I

[54:40] really encourage people to come

[54:41] well thank you

[54:46] questions are from for tell

[54:46] you what I'm gonna go ahead and

[54:50] and get Mr Adkins to speak

[54:52] first and those of you if you

[54:53] want to get in the queue that's

[54:54] fine but I'm gonna let him speak

[54:56] first and then we'll take

[54:57] questions that might go to

[54:57] either or both

[54:59] you're recognized Mr. Atdkins

[55:00] thank you Mr Chairman

[55:04] so I think I'm gonna start

[55:06] and I'm gonna talk about so in

[55:07] west Memphis we actually had the

[55:08] luxury that we started with

[55:10] another data center before the

[55:11] google data

[55:14] that really enabled us to learn

[55:16] a lot and as Miss Wilson said I

[55:19] can I can reiterate emphatically

[55:20] that not all data center

[55:24] developers or hyperscalers are

[55:26] the same so from the very

[55:29] beginning Google their desire

[55:32] from from all interactions that

[55:33] we had with them at the city

[55:34] level before we ever signed any

[55:37] MOUs or CDAs their desire was

[55:40] how can they be an active part

[55:42] of the community right so they

[55:43] from the very beginning you'll

[55:43] you

[55:45] ' ll hear or you hear on social

[55:46] media you hear a lot of talk

[55:47] about

[55:50] that they move into

[55:51] disadvantaged or impoverished

[55:54] communities and west memphis

[55:56] tends to fit that bill but from

[55:58] the very beginning they had

[55:59] nothing but a desire to improve

[56:00] our community and to invest in

[56:01] our community

[56:04] so we started like I said we

[56:05] started with another developer

[56:06] luckily that developer

[56:10] moved away and and the google

[56:11] facility came in and they

[56:11] started talking to us

[56:14] and we started working through

[56:16] some of the agreements from a

[56:17] from a municipal level first

[56:20] I'm actually the the general man

[56:21] of the utility but I've been

[56:22] involved in that process from

[56:24] the very beginning and I'll talk

[56:25] a little bit about utilities at

[56:25] the end

[56:25] but

[56:28] as we were working through the

[56:30] process we were very

[56:32] concerned and very

[56:35] diligent about making sure that

[56:37] it was a a good deal for the

[56:38] city and that the city was going

[56:40] to get a benefit from having

[56:42] them locate there they were open

[56:44] to every one of those

[56:46] conversations when we started

[56:46] talking about community

[56:48] development agreements they were

[56:50] open to that conversation we

[56:52] were able to work through that

[56:54] they're making once they have

[56:55] occupancy they will make it

[56:57] sizable contribution to the city

[56:57] annually

[57:01] and that is really

[57:02] transformational for us at a

[57:03] municipal government

[57:07] So as we work through all those

[57:08] things we had a memorandum of

[57:10] understanding I I will say this

[57:12] as a side note the one thing so

[57:13] we had an NDA with Google and

[57:16] for future reference if you ever

[57:18] have to pass anything like that

[57:20] at city council make sure that

[57:22] you get a bucky's MOu approved

[57:24] at the same time as the google

[57:26] MU because nobody asked us a

[57:28] single word about Google

[57:29] everybody cared about bucky's

[57:34] but it was it was a it was a

[57:35] good experience and they had a

[57:36] desire from the very beginning

[57:38] and they've maintained that

[57:39] desire through the whole process

[57:40] we started talking to them and

[57:43] april of 24 and they've

[57:44] maintained that position all

[57:45] along

[57:46] so they really there's two

[57:48] components that they operate

[57:50] within so there's a corporate

[57:52] level that we work with and then

[57:54] there's a project level that we

[57:56] work with the corporate level

[57:58] they focus mainly on benefits

[58:00] to community like the

[58:04] uhgyfoability fund that we

[58:05] spoke about that Miss Wilson

[58:07] spoke about incidentally both

[58:08] superintendentfoister and myself

[58:09] are

[58:11] members of that council that

[58:11] advisory council

[58:14] one of the things that I will

[58:16] say that they did a good thing

[58:18] about with that is the the

[58:20] entities that they used

[58:22] groundswell the utility had West

[58:23] memphis utilities had been

[58:24] working with groundswell there

[58:26] and established organization and

[58:28] that's what they do and so they

[58:30] partner with them Crawley's

[58:32] ridge they manage the light heap

[58:34] funds and for us and so they

[58:36] they already had a pipeline for

[58:38] these individuals and that

[58:39] enabled them to really kind of

[58:40] get in there and start working

[58:41] on that

[58:44] when we start talking about

[58:46] energy affordability and

[58:46] weatherization and winterization

[58:48] on these homes these are

[58:50] families that oftentimes have to

[58:52] make a decision between do I pay

[58:54] my utility bills so that we're

[58:55] not in the dark and we have heat

[58:57] or do I buy food this week and

[58:59] so this is really transformative

[59:00] for some of these families in

[59:02] these communities and like Miss

[59:04] Wilson said they've already

[59:06] done40 homes and they're slated

[59:08] to do another almost 200 by the

[59:10] end of the year so it is making

[59:11] a real difference for the

[59:11] community

[59:14] we're also talking to them about

[59:15] at the corporate level about

[59:15] investing in

[59:19] other parts of the community so

[59:20] they're talking to us about

[59:22] public safety they're talking to

[59:24] us about public infrastructure

[59:25] they're talking to us about

[59:27] quality of life issues and

[59:28] they're willing to help and just

[59:30] like superintendent oyster said

[59:32] I would reiterate that their

[59:33] desires to be a community

[59:35] partner from the very beginning

[59:38] Google's approach it has been

[59:38] that they're going to be in west

[59:41] memphis long term and they have

[59:42] approached every interaction

[59:44] that we've had with them that

[59:44] way from a municipal government

[59:50] We meet with them weekly and

[59:51] the weekly there's both the

[59:53] corporate and the project side

[59:55] on on the call and we're able to

[59:57] work through issues and we and

[59:59] we talk about things that are

[1:00:00] impacting the city and how

[1:00:01] they're how they're

[1:00:01] influencing the city

[1:00:08] as we as we to talk about the

[1:00:09] project level so the project

[1:00:10] level those are the boots on the

[1:00:12] grounds folk and right now at

[1:00:14] the west memphis site there's

[1:00:17] about 800 contractors and

[1:00:18] associated folks working on the

[1:00:19] site

[1:00:22] they have different projects

[1:00:24] different initiatives and

[1:00:25] they're and a and their focus

[1:00:26] outside of the development is

[1:00:27] how can they impact the

[1:00:29] community so they've already

[1:00:30] gone in in the city did not ask

[1:00:32] them to do this this is their

[1:00:34] corporate culture and they go in

[1:00:35] and they do this so the city has

[1:00:38] they they've gone into some of

[1:00:39] our municipal parks they're city

[1:00:41] owned parks and they've they've

[1:00:43] upgraded the parks so they've

[1:00:44] taken some of the playground

[1:00:46] equipment they're starting in

[1:00:47] the low income neighborhoods

[1:00:49] there and they're upgrading the

[1:00:50] playground equipment improving

[1:00:52] the fencing and cleaning the

[1:00:53] park up and they're doing all

[1:00:53] that on their own

[1:00:55] there's been instances where

[1:00:56] there's been

[1:01:00] roads and and streets that are

[1:01:01] close to the development the

[1:01:03] damage was not caused by them

[1:01:04] but they just went ahead and

[1:01:05] called and these are the project

[1:01:07] folks and said hey we have folks

[1:01:09] in here and and we'd like to be

[1:01:10] able to help we'd like to come

[1:01:12] over and and and take care of

[1:01:14] this problem that you have so

[1:01:15] that's huge for us because that

[1:01:16] enables the city of limited

[1:01:18] resources to be able to use

[1:01:19] those resources in other places

[1:01:22] I'm gonna interrupt you if I

[1:01:24] could Mr. Atdkins thank you

[1:01:26] for all that I'm we're as you

[1:01:26] know we started a little late

[1:01:28] I'm gonna try to move this along

[1:01:30] and you're making it very clear

[1:01:32] that at this point in time

[1:01:33] Google's been a pretty good

[1:01:34] corporate citizen for a new

[1:01:36] citizen in your community

[1:01:38] however I did have a question I

[1:01:40] wanted to ask you about you

[1:01:42] as the utilities general

[1:01:44] manager are involved with the

[1:01:46] infrastructure although y'all

[1:01:47] are a municipal power

[1:01:52] company but you're you will not

[1:01:55] be directly selling to the

[1:01:56] google that will be done by

[1:01:58] entergy is that correct that's

[1:02:00] not correct tell me how that

[1:02:00] will work so

[1:02:04] as the chairman pointed out

[1:02:06] we are a municipal utility so we

[1:02:08] are actually an agency of the

[1:02:10] city and we are actually

[1:02:13] serving the water service and

[1:02:14] wastewater service to the site

[1:02:15] and we're also serving

[1:02:16] distribution voltage for about

[1:02:17] 25 megawatts of distribution to

[1:02:18] the site.

[1:02:22] that that is used for the

[1:02:24] construction temporary and then

[1:02:26] they'll be 20 megawatts of

[1:02:26] permanent power that will stay

[1:02:28] at the site that the city is

[1:02:30] providing to the site now now

[1:02:33] you heard M Wilson

[1:02:36] mentioned that this was a I

[1:02:38] think she s she used a different

[1:02:40] word but the air cooled site

[1:02:42] but you will obviously they use

[1:02:43] water I mean it's a great big

[1:02:45] building it's gonna so you you

[1:02:46] are the water provi your agcency

[1:02:48] is the water provider for the

[1:02:49] project OK.

[1:02:52] so is this for the first three

[1:02:52] buildings the first3 buildings

[1:02:54] will be air cooled there's gonna

[1:02:56] be a total of5. we don't know

[1:02:57] where buildings4 and5 were

[1:02:58] originalinally we talked to them

[1:03:00] about water cooled we had

[1:03:02] conducted studies to make sure

[1:03:03] that we had appropriate water

[1:03:04] out of the aquifer that we had

[1:03:06] the capacity to be able to serve

[1:03:09] them and so right now the

[1:03:10] usage that they have

[1:03:11] pardon me

[1:03:14] think about it in terms of

[1:03:16] like a large distribution center

[1:03:18] so in west memphis we have the

[1:03:20] Bosch distribution center the

[1:03:22] water usage is roughly about the

[1:03:24] same and the sewer usage is

[1:03:25] about the same so it's very

[1:03:27] minimal water usage. the

[1:03:28] conversations that we did have

[1:03:30] with them were about using

[1:03:32] recycled water and that's still

[1:03:34] we're still having those

[1:03:35] conversations with them but

[1:03:38] there's no negative impact on

[1:03:39] the water usage for the

[1:03:40] community and we are providing

[1:03:41] that thank you

[1:03:44] we have a question from

[1:03:46] Representativeladyman who who is

[1:03:47] that forpresentative lady Well

[1:03:48] maybe both of y'all then go

[1:03:51] go right ahead maybe both y'all

[1:03:53] can respond to this this is a

[1:03:54] really big project and I know

[1:03:56] y'all been working on this a

[1:03:58] long time. you had a long

[1:04:00] history so you're as educated

[1:04:02] as any city in Arkansas I would

[1:04:05] think. so my question is

[1:04:09] big project talking to a big

[1:04:11] company so what was your biggest

[1:04:14] challenge to overcome to get

[1:04:16] this project off the ground.

[1:04:18] what was the most difficult

[1:04:19] hurdle

[1:04:22] this may be more for you

[1:04:23] Mr Atkins.

[1:04:28] probably the biggest thing was

[1:04:32] was making sure that when we

[1:04:33] look at things we want to make

[1:04:34] sure that there was no negative

[1:04:35] impact for our citizens

[1:04:38] from a utility standpoint

[1:04:40] that there was no negative

[1:04:41] impact on water or electric

[1:04:44] consumption. we just had an

[1:04:45] upgrade on our treatment plant

[1:04:46] and we wanted to make sure that

[1:04:48] there was not a negative impact

[1:04:50] on the rest of the residents on

[1:04:52] that treatment impact and that

[1:04:54] there was no negative impact for

[1:04:56] any of our residents or

[1:04:57] ratepayers in terms of utility

[1:04:59] bills or taxes or anything like

[1:04:59] that

[1:05:04] in all actuality it it's it's

[1:05:05] actually having the opposite

[1:05:06] effect because we're spreading

[1:05:08] our fixed costs over our our

[1:05:12] larger customer base and so75%

[1:05:13] of our utility bills are fixed

[1:05:16] costs right? and so Google is

[1:05:18] is paying a large percentage of

[1:05:19] those and so it actually has a

[1:05:19] stabilizing effect on our rates

[1:05:23] so those were all very important

[1:05:26] when we were started to work

[1:05:27] through this but then we also

[1:05:28] wanted to look at things like

[1:05:30] how is it going to impact public

[1:05:31] safety? We don't have a data

[1:05:34] center in west memphis how are

[1:05:34] our fire personnel gonna be

[1:05:38] incident there do they have the

[1:05:39] appropriate training

[1:05:41] when we brought those things up

[1:05:42] I I can tell you the google

[1:05:44] folks they were like we we will

[1:05:45] send you to any of our other

[1:05:46] data centers and we will help

[1:05:47] you to get the appropriate

[1:05:50] you can do that so those were

[1:05:53] and then and then the

[1:05:54] infrastructure around the city

[1:05:56] we actually built a new road

[1:05:58] into the facility it had been in

[1:06:00] the plans for a long time and

[1:06:02] this was the catalyst to help us

[1:06:03] get that done so it's a bypass

[1:06:04] for our main Broadway

[1:06:06] thoroughfare that goes through

[1:06:08] town but bro it's those were all

[1:06:10] things that were really

[1:06:10] important to us as we were

[1:06:12] negotiating with them Mroster, I

[1:06:13] might ask you

[1:06:16] you know the kids you showed

[1:06:18] that they're they're accepting

[1:06:20] that and they're learning but

[1:06:22] what about the adults I mean the

[1:06:24] the teachers and the parents

[1:06:26] what was their attitude? I mean

[1:06:28] did you get any negative

[1:06:30] pushback from any l living next

[1:06:32] to it or whatever or were they

[1:06:33] all in on what it was gonna do

[1:06:35] for your school so full

[1:06:36] disclosure I I drive by the

[1:06:37] facility every day coming in to

[1:06:38] work

[1:06:39] and

[1:06:42] quite frankly I didn't know it

[1:06:44] was actually comingti I actually

[1:06:45] got there so I didn't hear a

[1:06:46] whole lot of negative things at

[1:06:48] all and you know kids are kids

[1:06:50] you know if it's not a video

[1:06:50] gameme or right in front of on

[1:06:52] social media they they're

[1:06:53] they're not they're not privy to

[1:06:54] all the things but as far as

[1:06:56] parents and community teachers,

[1:06:59] I mean this has been embraced

[1:07:01] as a whole in our community and

[1:07:01] in our school system as well

[1:07:03] thank you

[1:07:06] if I could just tack onto that

[1:07:08] we did a lot of work upfront

[1:07:10] talking about how it wasn't

[1:07:10] going to have any of those

[1:07:14] negative benefits we didn't name

[1:07:15] Google but we talked about the

[1:07:16] the positive benefits that a

[1:07:17] large development would have for

[1:07:18] our community and how there

[1:07:22] would not be any infrastructure

[1:07:23] issues or problems that we

[1:07:24] weren't going to use water up or

[1:07:26] use all the electric or make

[1:07:27] rates go up and so we did a lot

[1:07:29] of work up front to the

[1:07:30] community with the community

[1:07:32] through town halls and kind of

[1:07:33] grassroots messaging

[1:07:36] to kind of take to talk about

[1:07:38] all those things in advance of

[1:07:39] the announcement and we've

[1:07:39] realized a lot of success with

[1:07:40] that

[1:07:45] Thank you before we go any

[1:07:47] further I just want to tell

[1:07:48] everybody that I'm gonna be a

[1:07:50] little bit shorter with my time

[1:07:52] I'm gonna allow simply

[1:07:54] because we are gonna try to get

[1:07:55] out of here before dark th30

[1:07:59] and it is a little warm today so

[1:08:00] I know y'all can't wait to get

[1:08:02] back out in the heat but

[1:08:04] uhpresentative Mcgruder you're

[1:08:05] recognized

[1:08:08] thank you chair just have one

[1:08:12] question or a statement

[1:08:12] when you both agree that you

[1:08:14] have two of the best state

[1:08:15] representatives in the state of

[1:08:16] Arkansas.

[1:08:20] that that question's out of

[1:08:21] order

[1:08:26] but I'll let y'all answer it.

[1:08:27] Was that a rhetorical question?

[1:08:30] so I

[1:08:33] I can I can honestly s share

[1:08:34] that I try to keep them in loop

[1:08:36] with everything we do and what's

[1:08:38] good for our community is good

[1:08:40] for schools and what's good for

[1:08:41] our schools is good for the

[1:08:43] community and and so we we I

[1:08:45] can't I mean jokingly I think

[1:08:47] you know just by him making that

[1:08:48] statement you know where we're

[1:08:49] at with our relationship and I

[1:08:50] respect them both communicate

[1:08:53] with them both they have been

[1:08:54] extremely helpful to me

[1:08:56] personally as well as to the

[1:08:57] school whether it is a

[1:09:01] superintendent or a a utility

[1:09:03] manager I think everybody in

[1:09:05] this room on this side of the

[1:09:07] table agrees that it's great to

[1:09:08] have those communications a good

[1:09:10] relationship so thank you and

[1:09:12] and I will not rule your

[1:09:13] question out of order

[1:09:15] RepresentativemcGregor. I have

[1:09:17] one more in the queue and

[1:09:19] that'spresentative Brooks you're

[1:09:21] recognized thank you Mr Chair. I

[1:09:22] appreciate the latitude since

[1:09:23] I'm not on this committee but

[1:09:24] obviously given the last

[1:09:25] question there's a broad

[1:09:27] latitude for to say things on

[1:09:27] this committee and I

[1:09:29] appreciate it thank you

[1:09:30] gentlemen for being here and and

[1:09:32] the information that you're

[1:09:33] providing and Mr. Ffoister this

[1:09:36] question is for you. relative

[1:09:38] to funding for the school

[1:09:39] district. Obviously we know that

[1:09:40] we're funded based on the

[1:09:42] uniform rate of taxation,

[1:09:44] property taxes. Has there been

[1:09:46] any discussions or projections

[1:09:48] made about how that would impact

[1:09:50] you. I saw a recent story about

[1:09:52] a a metadata center in a parish

[1:09:55] in Louisisiana that had

[1:09:56] significant positive impacts for

[1:09:57] the teachers in terms of of

[1:09:58] annual bonuse

[1:10:00] s so have you had any

[1:10:02] projections made or discussed

[1:10:04] with Google about how this might

[1:10:06] impact the schools in in umriney

[1:10:07] County.

[1:10:11] so I'll answer in two parts so

[1:10:13] the first part is obviously the

[1:10:13] revenue from the tax

[1:10:17] so we we still don't have

[1:10:18] exactly I'm still trying to plan

[1:10:20] that out as a superintendent.

[1:10:20] I'm trying to plan out 2,3,4

[1:10:23] years ahead so I don't know what

[1:10:24] that tax revenue is going to be

[1:10:26] and as you know with school

[1:10:28] finance just because our revenue

[1:10:29] comes up we may lose funding

[1:10:30] because of the equalization so

[1:10:31] we're trying to figure out where

[1:10:33] that balance is and what our

[1:10:34] increase is gonna be but there

[1:10:35] is going to be an increase

[1:10:38] so the second part we've had

[1:10:40] internal conversations with

[1:10:42] Google about other projects

[1:10:44] other things that we want to do

[1:10:47] to support our district we

[1:10:49] have some facility issues

[1:10:51] we're blessed with some

[1:10:53] resources but facility we have

[1:10:54] one of the oldest high schools

[1:10:56] in the state of Arkansas so

[1:10:57] we're looking at those type

[1:11:00] things my first thing is is

[1:11:02] about our people because you

[1:11:03] can't you it's hard to find

[1:11:04] teachers and it's hard to find

[1:11:05] good teachers so

[1:11:08] and I'll make a plug we've got

[1:11:09] one of the first merit pay we

[1:11:10] have our own school district

[1:11:12] merit pay in west memphis

[1:11:14] schools which is about400,000

[1:11:16] dollars we're gonna divvy up on

[1:11:17] teachers so it's significant. so

[1:11:19] that's important to me but I

[1:11:20] don't know how to plan that out

[1:11:22] yet until I have all the

[1:11:23] information and right now I

[1:11:23] don't have all that

[1:11:27] thank you and

[1:11:30] I've give a little leeway to

[1:11:31] representative Brooks while he

[1:11:32] is not a member of this

[1:11:34] committee he is chair of the

[1:11:36] houseducationittee and I knew he

[1:11:38] would have a relevant question

[1:11:39] for you so so thank you for that

[1:11:43] with no further questions thank

[1:11:46] you both for coming and the

[1:11:47] hard work you're doing to serve

[1:11:47] your folks and rerichtenon

[1:11:48] County.

[1:11:49] thank you for the opportunity

[1:11:52] thank you as well Next we'll

[1:11:56] have presentation by andrey

[1:11:57] Mr John bethel, director of

[1:11:59] public affairs, Mr David Palmer

[1:12:00] vice president of regulatory

[1:12:01] affairs if you too would come

[1:12:02] forward

[1:12:10] And and I also need to give the

[1:12:12] committee another heads up here

[1:12:13] I think this one might take a

[1:12:14] little longer than some of the

[1:12:18] others and I might cut if I do

[1:12:20] cut it off it would only be

[1:12:22] because I've recently learned

[1:12:23] that we will probably be

[1:12:28] scheduling a a another meeting

[1:12:29] in about four weeks

[1:12:30] and

[1:12:32] Misterrethle you'll get to come

[1:12:35] back then so I I'm only saying

[1:12:38] that is that I'm I'm usually

[1:12:39] when we have a hearing like this

[1:12:42] we flesh everything out we're

[1:12:44] not going to go on and on and on

[1:12:46] with this today where we I

[1:12:47] promise you that we we have some

[1:12:48] hard deadlines and we will we

[1:12:50] will get out of here but with

[1:12:51] that

[1:12:54] Mr bethel Mr Palmer I will

[1:12:55] ask you to introduce yourselves

[1:12:57] for the record and then you

[1:12:57] recognize

[1:13:00] good afternoon I'm John bethel

[1:13:01] I'm director of public affairs

[1:13:01] for Enterg Arkansas.

[1:13:03] turn your mic on

[1:13:05] show him how to do it John

[1:13:08] but

[1:13:10] David palmer vice president

[1:13:12] regulatory affairs entergy

[1:13:13] Arkansas thank you

[1:13:16] and good afternoon Mr

[1:13:18] chairman members of the

[1:13:18] committee we're pleased to be

[1:13:20] here and and to assist and we'll

[1:13:21] obviously show up anytime you

[1:13:22] you need our help we're glad to

[1:13:23] do that

[1:13:26] just want to hit on a couple of

[1:13:28] things before take questions

[1:13:30] but just we are pleased to

[1:13:32] help power Arkansas we're

[1:13:34] pleased to help support the

[1:13:34] health and welfare of the

[1:13:36] communities that we serve and

[1:13:38] the and the customers we serve

[1:13:40] in those communities and part of

[1:13:42] that is ensuring that we are

[1:13:44] able to provide reliable and

[1:13:47] affordable power and serving

[1:13:50] large customers such as a steel

[1:13:52] mill or a manufacturing facility

[1:13:53] or a data center helps toward

[1:13:54] that

[1:13:58] because as as Mr Adkins

[1:14:00] mentioned a large customer pays

[1:14:01] a large part of the utility's

[1:14:02] fixed costs which helps cover

[1:14:04] costs that customers would

[1:14:06] otherwise pay and with our data

[1:14:08] center customers we are

[1:14:10] contracting with them under our

[1:14:13] fair sharere plus pledge and

[1:14:14] Miss Wilson touched on that a

[1:14:16] little bit is is we contract

[1:14:18] with those customers to ensure

[1:14:20] that they pay the cost to serve

[1:14:22] them plus they pay additional

[1:14:23] amounts that help bring down the

[1:14:23] cost to our other customers

[1:14:28] and that has real benefits in

[1:14:30] terms of utility rates and so

[1:14:32] for our relationship with Google

[1:14:34] and our contract with Google it

[1:14:36] does provide over the life of

[1:14:37] the contract that they pay for

[1:14:39] the cost to serve them plus

[1:14:41] additional costs that bring down

[1:14:42] the cost that other customers

[1:14:44] pay for example if it costs real

[1:14:48] simply if it costs us $100 to to

[1:14:50] to pay goog to serve

[1:14:52] Google or a large customer and

[1:14:53] they pay rates that produce 1

[1:14:58] 3 $0 that30 dollars increment is

[1:15:00] the plus that helps to offset

[1:15:02] costs that customcus other

[1:15:03] customers would otherwise pay

[1:15:06] and you've probably seen

[1:15:08] information published in the

[1:15:10] newspaper about the Google

[1:15:12] contract specifically and it's

[1:15:15] it's not complete it's not

[1:15:17] and and there is more to the

[1:15:18] story than than what's been

[1:15:20] published but you can use that

[1:15:22] information alone to also

[1:15:24] demonstrate that Google is

[1:15:26] paying the cost to serve them

[1:15:28] plus the amount that it costs

[1:15:30] to serve them as reported was

[1:15:32] 1.6 billion the revenues from

[1:15:33] their contract is 2.

[1:15:36] $1 billion the half a billion

[1:15:38] dollar difference is the plus

[1:15:39] that helps bring down costs to

[1:15:40] our other customers and and pay

[1:15:42] costs that our other customers

[1:15:43] would otherwise have to pay

[1:15:46] you've probably seen information

[1:15:48] about the generating Arkansas

[1:15:50] Jobs Act that you passed

[1:15:52] to help support growth in

[1:15:54] Arkansas and as a part of that

[1:15:57] there is a a charge on

[1:15:58] customers bills as we build

[1:16:00] facilities that are approved by

[1:16:02] the publicervice commission and

[1:16:04] the financing cost during

[1:16:05] construction are recovered

[1:16:08] through that charge on customers

[1:16:09] bills and by doing that

[1:16:12] customers realize the benefit of

[1:16:13] a gradual change in rates rather

[1:16:13] than a large

[1:16:16] change in rates all at once and

[1:16:18] then on the back end by paying

[1:16:19] those financing costs during

[1:16:20] construction they don't pay

[1:16:22] those financing costs over the

[1:16:24] life of the asset which results

[1:16:26] in a long term savings to

[1:16:28] customers and our customers are

[1:16:31] seeing on the generating

[1:16:34] arkansas Jobs Act costs

[1:16:34] associated with financing the

[1:16:36] construction of the irronwood

[1:16:38] facility in Hot Spring County

[1:16:40] the Jeffersonoweration in

[1:16:42] Jefferson County and the cypress

[1:16:44] solar facility that's also

[1:16:46] located in Jefferson County and

[1:16:48] those charges are on the

[1:16:50] customer's bills because those

[1:16:51] resources serve all of our

[1:16:54] customers and particularly

[1:16:56] the the cyprus solar facility

[1:16:58] will provide energy cost savings

[1:16:59] over the life of that fac

[1:17:02] il ity in the neighborhood of

[1:17:04] 245 to650 million dollars that

[1:17:06] our customers will see over the

[1:17:10] life of that facility and when

[1:17:11] Google begins operating the

[1:17:13] revenues that they produce will

[1:17:15] more than offset the amounts

[1:17:16] that our customers are paying

[1:17:18] through the generating Arkansas

[1:17:19] Jobs Act that's a part again

[1:17:20] that's part of the plus

[1:17:21] associated with our fair share

[1:17:24] plus contracting with data

[1:17:26] center customers and so with

[1:17:28] that and in the interest of time

[1:17:29] David and I are available to

[1:17:32] to answer questions that you may

[1:17:33] have of us

[1:17:36] thank you Mr Prethel

[1:17:39] know this is a shock to you but

[1:17:42] I do have some questions I

[1:17:44] have been following the

[1:17:46] things going on that reported in

[1:17:48] the Democrat Gazette starting

[1:17:50] with the fact that you

[1:17:52] folks didn't seem particularly

[1:17:54] happy about the fact that there

[1:17:56] was a foia request made to the

[1:17:58] pSC and they received some inf

[1:18:00] some people received some

[1:18:02] information related to this

[1:18:06] and I'm I would be remiss if

[1:18:07] I didn't say I'm disappointed

[1:18:10] to seegy suing in federal court

[1:18:14] over a first amendment issue but

[1:18:16] Juge Ruowsky seemed to at

[1:18:18] least for the time being kick

[1:18:20] that can down the road and I

[1:18:23] guess to the extent you can

[1:18:24] comment on this and I don't

[1:18:27] badger witnesses to comment on

[1:18:28] something that's in litigation

[1:18:30] but this is unprecedented I've

[1:18:31] never seen anything quite like

[1:18:33] this where you know someone came

[1:18:36] in and and even my understanding

[1:18:37] and again correct me if I have

[1:18:37] this information

[1:18:40] wrong that's why I'm saying

[1:18:40] we're gonna come back inoctober

[1:18:41] and look at this a little more

[1:18:42] carefully but

[1:18:45] did anrogy in their

[1:18:50] filing specifically ask the

[1:18:52] judge to have the Democrat

[1:18:55] Gazette remove the information

[1:18:56] that was published from their

[1:18:57] website

[1:19:00] I I'll try to take that and

[1:19:02] thank you for the question

[1:19:03] senator Johnson

[1:19:06] let me go back and and

[1:19:08] reframe it a little because we

[1:19:11] didn't sue on behalf or have an

[1:19:12] issue with a foia request to a

[1:19:14] state agency that was not our

[1:19:17] issue I I believe state agencies

[1:19:17] respond to those all the time

[1:19:20] when we were made aware of the

[1:19:22] information that was obtained

[1:19:24] through the foia it was clear to

[1:19:25] us that some of that information

[1:19:28] was was protected pursuant to a

[1:19:29] protective order at the APSC

[1:19:32] that was the basis of our

[1:19:34] request to federal court was to

[1:19:36] keep that information that is

[1:19:38] subject to that protective order

[1:19:39] from public disclosure

[1:19:42] and the judge disagreed on the

[1:19:43] basis of some First amendment

[1:19:43] arguments that I couldn't

[1:19:44] articulate

[1:19:46] but that was the only basis we

[1:19:48] were seeking to protect

[1:19:50] confidential information that

[1:19:52] would not have otherwise been

[1:19:54] publicly disclosed but for the

[1:19:56] inadvertent release but it was

[1:19:59] released and did did y'all ask

[1:20:00] in your or and this is something

[1:20:02] that's in writing it's not like

[1:20:04] you you whispered it or anything

[1:20:08] did you ask that Juge Rudowsky

[1:20:08] in his order tell

[1:20:11] the Democrat gazette to take it

[1:20:12] off their website where I mean

[1:20:13] it's already been published they

[1:20:14] even some people might may not

[1:20:16] know this but they actually do

[1:20:17] have paper versions you can go

[1:20:19] buy if you want one I mean I get

[1:20:22] mine Monday through or Sunday

[1:20:23] Monday through Saturday

[1:20:24] electronically but there

[1:20:26] actually is a paper copy did did

[1:20:29] is that correct or did I

[1:20:32] misunderstand that I I would say

[1:20:34] we made two requests was to the

[1:20:36] extent that could be redacted in

[1:20:37] some form even though public

[1:20:38] disclosure was largely to your

[1:20:39] point

[1:20:42] already made on that information

[1:20:43] yes we were asking for the

[1:20:44] judge's direction on how that

[1:20:46] could be accomplished but we're

[1:20:47] also aware that there was

[1:20:50] additional information that was

[1:20:52] also released in that foyer that

[1:20:54] had not yet been made public and

[1:20:55] we were also focused on ensuring

[1:20:57] that that information did not

[1:20:59] subsequently get released it was

[1:21:01] twofold and the judge did deny

[1:21:03] at least and this this is all

[1:21:04] temporary I know you haven't had

[1:21:06] a long drawn out trial about

[1:21:07] this but he did deny a request

[1:21:08] to order the

[1:21:12] newspaper to to redact that or

[1:21:13] to take it off their website

[1:21:14] that is that my understanding

[1:21:16] correct yes sir and senator the

[1:21:19] information was inadvertently

[1:21:22] released in response to the

[1:21:22] freedom of Information Act

[1:21:24] request. It was information that

[1:21:25] as Mr Palmer pointed out was

[1:21:26] covered by a protective order

[1:21:28] because it was customer specific

[1:21:30] commercially sensitive

[1:21:32] information that warranted

[1:21:34] protection from disclosure as

[1:21:35] determined by the

[1:21:36] publiclicervice commission and

[1:21:38] also we would take the same

[1:21:39] approach

[1:21:42] to any customer's information it

[1:21:43] is our obligation under law and

[1:21:46] it is our obligation to take

[1:21:47] care of information that we have

[1:21:48] that's customerc specific and

[1:21:50] not to have that be disclosed

[1:21:53] that was the the issue it was

[1:21:54] not a matter of challenging

[1:21:55] whether a freedom of information

[1:21:57] actct request is appropriate or

[1:21:58] not it was a fact that

[1:22:00] information that shouldn't have

[1:22:02] been released in the response

[1:22:04] was released and it was trying

[1:22:06] to protect information that's

[1:22:07] customer specific just like we

[1:22:08] would do for any other customer

[1:22:09] that we serve

[1:22:13] well and appreciate that and and

[1:22:15] being one of your customers

[1:22:16] I would want you to

[1:22:18] talk about my information

[1:22:20] although I did bring my last

[1:22:22] bill and I have a couple of

[1:22:22] questions of you

[1:22:26] the and again as I said we're

[1:22:28] gonna come back to this in in

[1:22:34] inoctober but I have had pardon

[1:22:35] me for saying it this way I have

[1:22:38] had problem digesting this stuff

[1:22:39] I I'm the chairman of this

[1:22:40] committee I've served on it

[1:22:42] since I've been in the general

[1:22:45] assembly and this whole thing

[1:22:47] starting with generating

[1:22:48] Arkansas Jobs Act and

[1:22:52] subsequently is I've it boggles

[1:22:53] my mind sometimes to to

[1:22:54] figure this out to sound like

[1:22:56] it's like with Abbott and

[1:22:58] Costello it's who's on first and

[1:23:00] who's on second and I've had

[1:23:01] constituents that they're are

[1:23:04] pretty intelligent and smart

[1:23:05] people they try to come up and

[1:23:06] they say that it looks like a

[1:23:08] shell game to them first

[1:23:10] thing I want to ask about is

[1:23:13] in the and I'm I'm gonna use

[1:23:15] this figure contested if you

[1:23:18] wish the577 dollars monthly fee

[1:23:20] for the three power generation

[1:23:22] projects you referred to I

[1:23:23] got my

[1:23:23] bill.

[1:23:25] this is my latest bill

[1:23:29] and my if you if y'all haven't

[1:23:30] ever looked at your bill look on

[1:23:32] page two if you have an energy

[1:23:33] bill and it'll say current

[1:23:34] charges and then it'll sayy

[1:23:36] charges and after at the bottom

[1:23:38] it says the generating Arkansas

[1:23:40] Jobs Act well mine wasn't you

[1:23:43] know, uh5 dollars77 cents it was

[1:23:44] $22.81

[1:23:50] now I know that it's been hot

[1:23:52] and I know that maybe I have a

[1:23:54] bigger house but still that's a

[1:23:56] whole lot more money and I don't

[1:23:57] know where you came up with

[1:23:59] the577 I assume that's some kind

[1:24:00] of an average or a median

[1:24:02] because there's obviously there

[1:24:04] may be somebody out there paying

[1:24:06] less than5 dollars77 cents can

[1:24:08] you spread some light on this

[1:24:12] sheriff senator let me try as

[1:24:14] you noted usage is up right now

[1:24:16] because of the heat right

[1:24:18] residential customers pay a

[1:24:21] volumetric rate meaning you pay

[1:24:23] per usage. You heard Miss Wilson

[1:24:24] describe how some customers pay

[1:24:25] a demand charge

[1:24:28] you're only paying a rate that's

[1:24:30] expressed in terms ofcents per

[1:24:32] kilowatt hour so if you're using

[1:24:33] a lot you're going to pay more

[1:24:34] we have for

[1:24:38] I'll say decades utility has

[1:24:40] quoted our rates on an impact of

[1:24:44] 1000 kilowatt hours of usage. so

[1:24:46] the5 dollars77 cents is quoted

[1:24:48] as on 1000 kilowatt hours

[1:24:52] so if yours is four times that

[1:24:53] amount then you've got4 times

[1:24:55] more usage than the way we quote

[1:24:55] our standard rate

[1:25:00] mine says3,974 kilowatt hours

[1:25:02] during that billing period and

[1:25:04] it says the rate is the

[1:25:08] difference000574 which is about

[1:25:09] ive

[1:25:13] well a little over half a penny

[1:25:16] per kwh that's that's how I'm

[1:25:20] looking at but again we're gonna

[1:25:21] we're gonna

[1:25:22] I'm not gonna drag this thing

[1:25:24] out but we're gonna look at this

[1:25:25] once I actually have a chance to

[1:25:26] read all this stuff hear from

[1:25:28] the pSC and and and and come

[1:25:30] back on this and I guess I will

[1:25:32] finalize what I'm doing and and

[1:25:33] we've got people in the queue

[1:25:41] how much of that of my $22.81 is

[1:25:44] paying for Google or any other

[1:25:48] data center or shall we say

[1:25:50] large customer because that's

[1:25:51] certainly a

[1:25:55] an issue that has been debated

[1:25:57] both directions and you're

[1:25:58] talking about how they're paying

[1:26:00] for it but you know when this

[1:26:02] bill came up and you remember I

[1:26:05] called it a cost shift I said

[1:26:06] you're you know the old days

[1:26:10] before you had the writer

[1:26:12] your company would go to the

[1:26:13] capital markets whether it's

[1:26:16] issuing bonds or or you go to

[1:26:18] New York banks or or get

[1:26:20] your stockholder equity to pay

[1:26:21] for but

[1:26:22] you know the facility that

[1:26:26] generates power you guys paid

[1:26:29] for and now we the ratepayers

[1:26:30] you know and some of us may not

[1:26:31] live long enough to see these

[1:26:33] plants finished are paying for

[1:26:35] it right now now some of the

[1:26:37] justification is well we don't

[1:26:38] want to hit everybody with a

[1:26:40] great big bill all at once well

[1:26:42] for 100 years we've been doing

[1:26:44] it this way why is it suddenly

[1:26:45] not gonna work to use the

[1:26:49] traditional model where if

[1:26:50] you're a private company a

[1:26:51] regulated

[1:26:53] utility you get a guaranteed

[1:26:56] rate of return determined by the

[1:26:59] pSC and but you you know you

[1:27:02] pay your own upfront cost if if

[1:27:03] Sam Walton wanted to move to my

[1:27:04] come to my hometown of Conway

[1:27:06] which he did a long time ago and

[1:27:10] built a Walmart store he

[1:27:11] didn't ask the customers to

[1:27:12] start paying up front before

[1:27:14] they bought the first you know

[1:27:16] shirt or pair of socks in

[1:27:18] that Walmart and and this but

[1:27:20] this is what we're doing now and

[1:27:21] it's it's a cost shift that I'm

[1:27:21] I'm

[1:27:24] I'm not sure it completely

[1:27:28] parallels this issue with data

[1:27:29] centers although obviously they

[1:27:31] are a big industry a big user of

[1:27:32] power and you guys are dealing

[1:27:34] with them and thank you for

[1:27:36] doing that because I support the

[1:27:38] data centers both for our

[1:27:40] competitive factors with our

[1:27:41] adversaries around the world and

[1:27:43] the fact that you know I've got

[1:27:44] one of these things and I want

[1:27:48] it to work but I'm I just

[1:27:50] want to know is is you know

[1:27:50] suddenly I've got another extra

[1:27:51] $22.81 and how does this

[1:27:56] all tie together under the

[1:27:57] legislation and under the charts

[1:27:58] that's on your bill you're

[1:28:00] paying costs that you would

[1:28:00] otherwise pay under the

[1:28:02] traditional method under the new

[1:28:04] method that was approved under

[1:28:06] the generating Arkansas Jobs Act

[1:28:07] you're paying the financing

[1:28:08] costs associated with

[1:28:10] construction during construction

[1:28:12] under the traditional historic

[1:28:14] method that was in place before

[1:28:16] that we would spend the dollars

[1:28:18] accumulate those costs add that

[1:28:19] to what the cost of the plant

[1:28:21] was that we put into service and

[1:28:22] customers would pay those ex

[1:28:24] act same costs plus interest

[1:28:26] over the life of the asset which

[1:28:29] cost more than paying those

[1:28:31] costs on the front end during

[1:28:32] construction and not paying them

[1:28:34] on the back end as I talked

[1:28:36] about earlier it's a it's the

[1:28:37] same cost but it's a timing

[1:28:38] difference it saves money in

[1:28:40] financing costs that customers

[1:28:42] pay and it saves money and what

[1:28:43] actually comes out of their

[1:28:44] pocket over the time that the

[1:28:46] assets in service serving them

[1:28:49] and the assets that are

[1:28:50] included the three power plants

[1:28:52] currently are going to serve all

[1:28:53] of our customers

[1:28:55] well I guess I'm trying to

[1:28:58] differentiate how much of this

[1:29:00] comes from in this case we're

[1:29:02] talking about Google is one but

[1:29:04] we know there are others and

[1:29:06] how much is just the the usual

[1:29:10] growth because we're

[1:29:12] again I I've talked long enough

[1:29:13] I'm gonna move on and let some

[1:29:14] other people ask questions and

[1:29:16] first up ispresentative meeks

[1:29:18] whoop thank you Mr Chairman.

[1:29:20] well we're far right. so I

[1:29:22] just had a follow up question on

[1:29:23] the solar facility that's being

[1:29:24] built to help support this

[1:29:25] project.

[1:29:28] is there going to be any battery

[1:29:32] storage added to that

[1:29:33] solar project because I know one

[1:29:34] of the concerns that have been

[1:29:36] mentioned before is the demand

[1:29:37] response what happens if we get

[1:29:38] into an emergency situation

[1:29:41] obviously having that backup

[1:29:43] energy available would go a long

[1:29:44] way towards helping to relieve

[1:29:46] that issue so just curious if

[1:29:48] that was part of the the the

[1:29:52] plan here. yes re it is it's

[1:29:54] a600 megawatt solar facility and

[1:29:55] a350 megawatt battery

[1:29:58] energy storage system be part of

[1:29:59] it ok right thank you

[1:30:02] senator Mcee you're

[1:30:03] recognized

[1:30:06] thank you Mr Chairman. thanks

[1:30:08] for being here appreciate you

[1:30:10] so my my concerns surrounding

[1:30:12] the the use of the rider for

[1:30:13] this project whether it's

[1:30:15] cypress solar is is maybe you

[1:30:16] can help me understand why

[1:30:19] entergy decided to take the

[1:30:20] contributions made by Google

[1:30:22] and apply them as other

[1:30:24] contributions instead of kayak

[1:30:26] payments and help help me

[1:30:26] understand the process of why

[1:30:28] that why that benefits

[1:30:29] ratepayers

[1:30:32] because unfortunately I don't

[1:30:32] think that's how most ratepayers

[1:30:33] look at that

[1:30:36] right and thank you and it's it

[1:30:37] is a little hard to explain also

[1:30:40] so if I could maybe take it in

[1:30:42] pieces so if you if you step

[1:30:44] back and think about the

[1:30:45] timeline that Miss Wilson

[1:30:46] explained you know they're

[1:30:47] they're actively pursuing

[1:30:48] construction of their facility

[1:30:51] with an expected in service date

[1:30:53] sometime next year with some

[1:30:54] level of needing to add their

[1:30:56] load in increments as they ramp

[1:30:57] up their

[1:30:59] data product whatever it is

[1:30:59] their ramp

[1:31:04] we're faced with needing to get

[1:31:06] the facility under construction

[1:31:08] and completed because we need it

[1:31:10] to sync up with the load coming

[1:31:12] online. we also are pursuing

[1:31:14] advantages through the tax code

[1:31:15] so we get tax credits for that

[1:31:16] facility that there are

[1:31:18] requirements that have shifted

[1:31:20] even before even as we were

[1:31:21] negotiating with Google

[1:31:22] so

[1:31:24] from a timing standpoint we're

[1:31:26] faced with what we've got to get

[1:31:27] the construction started. We

[1:31:28] need the financial support to

[1:31:30] for the construction of the

[1:31:32] project there's also this build

[1:31:33] out that Google's gonna have to

[1:31:34] do before they're actually

[1:31:36] spinning that meter and paying

[1:31:37] those rates

[1:31:40] so so the the rider became the

[1:31:42] mechanism for cost recovery

[1:31:44] which included what Mr. Bethel

[1:31:45] just described which was to go

[1:31:45] ahead and

[1:31:48] begin recovering some of the

[1:31:50] financing cost support for that

[1:31:51] resource which again

[1:31:54] all of the energy cost savings

[1:31:56] go to all customers as well so

[1:31:58] there's a bit of a you you're

[1:32:00] paying for all the costs but

[1:32:01] you're also getting all the

[1:32:04] benefits what we further did was

[1:32:06] design Google's rates where they

[1:32:08] would cover the full cost of

[1:32:10] their service so there may be a

[1:32:12] line item on the bill that says

[1:32:14] here's a cost that they caused

[1:32:16] but their rates are designed to

[1:32:18] more than cover that cost it's

[1:32:19] just individually called out on

[1:32:20] the bill through the writer and

[1:32:21] will that be demons

[1:32:23] tra ted over how many years? I

[1:32:25] mean I I saw the report in

[1:32:28] for the godger rider that you

[1:32:30] filed last month I believe with

[1:32:32] PSC so is that over is that

[1:32:33] over ive years that that happens

[1:32:34] or what what does that look like

[1:32:37] we we we filed the rotter in

[1:32:39] early March. the rates went into

[1:32:41] effect in June and we provide a

[1:32:43] five year forecast to what those

[1:32:44] rates look like but we're

[1:32:45] talking over the life of

[1:32:48] Google's entire contract and

[1:32:49] back to your your other question

[1:32:50] relative to the kayak treatment

[1:32:51] or the non kayak

[1:32:51] treatment

[1:32:54] there were advantages both to

[1:32:56] the company and the customer for

[1:32:58] how we approach that single

[1:33:00] question so if you're if I don't

[1:33:01] want to speak on behalf of

[1:33:02] Google but if you are

[1:33:04] if you you know there may be

[1:33:06] accounting or tax reasons why

[1:33:08] you wouldn't want a payment to a

[1:33:10] utility to be a capital payment

[1:33:11] towards an asset

[1:33:14] from our point of view the

[1:33:16] benefits come back either way

[1:33:17] because you're still going

[1:33:19] offset the total cost of that

[1:33:20] resource by that amount it's

[1:33:22] just whether you do it all at

[1:33:23] once or over time

[1:33:26] what we provided in our filing

[1:33:29] with the commission was what we

[1:33:31] fully expect we're we see that

[1:33:32] the rates because they are

[1:33:35] higher than the cost to serve or

[1:33:36] already putting downward

[1:33:37] pressure on rates

[1:33:40] so that opened the door for

[1:33:42] alternative treatment to further

[1:33:44] spread those benefits benefits

[1:33:46] out over a longer period of time

[1:33:48] ultimately getting to the same

[1:33:50] place but you get same benefits

[1:33:52] for all customers but instead of

[1:33:53] being all at once you get some

[1:33:55] rate smoothing but also now you

[1:33:58] have long term benefits because

[1:33:59] when you when you take whether

[1:34:00] it's5 or600 million dollar

[1:34:02] contribution from Google you

[1:34:03] know I think what a lot of

[1:34:03] people expected was

[1:34:05] you don't have to request 1.6

[1:34:05] billion

[1:34:10] you know in rates through the

[1:34:11] rider you you know you just you

[1:34:11] ask for one

[1:34:14] and so that's that's the short

[1:34:16] term thinking right but I think

[1:34:18] that that explains why well we

[1:34:20] we take a step back so what we

[1:34:22] would say is in this example

[1:34:24] instead of 1.6 it would be 2

[1:34:25] billion

[1:34:28] so we're not putting 2 billion

[1:34:29] in rates we're putting 1.6 in

[1:34:32] rates the question is are we

[1:34:32] collecting that rate through the

[1:34:34] roder or through some other

[1:34:37] mechanism either way Google's

[1:34:38] revenues come into the equation

[1:34:39] and they offset all of our cost

[1:34:46] and last question cyprus

[1:34:48] that helps fulfill obligations

[1:34:49] that arose out of the consent

[1:34:52] decreeright that called on the

[1:34:53] cessation of burning coal at

[1:34:56] independence and Whitebluff is

[1:34:56] that help fulfill those

[1:34:57] obligations

[1:34:58] ' m recalling the

[1:35:02] don't it wasn't a direct

[1:35:05] reason or justification for it

[1:35:05] to the extent there were

[1:35:10] it's part of the resources

[1:35:11] necessary to replace the the

[1:35:13] generation that we are from

[1:35:14] ceasing to burn coal but it's

[1:35:16] not the it's not the entire

[1:35:18] amount but it's part of our

[1:35:22] our resource mix going forward

[1:35:23] and as you and I have talked

[1:35:24] about we have an adequate

[1:35:26] amount of dispatchable

[1:35:28] generation that's available all

[1:35:30] the time and then the renewable

[1:35:32] resources that we have provide

[1:35:34] fuel cost savings that will help

[1:35:35] all of our customers as well

[1:35:36] thank you gentlemen

[1:35:37] thank you

[1:35:40] Thank you Senator Mcee because

[1:35:42] you you kinda phrased the

[1:35:44] question I had a little more

[1:35:46] succinctly and I appreciate the

[1:35:47] answer on that

[1:35:50] Senator hickey you recognized

[1:35:55] thank you Mr chairir. Mr

[1:35:57] bethel of course we know

[1:35:58] whenever the seawhip bill was

[1:35:59] done that

[1:36:02] yourself and some others and

[1:36:04] probably about five or six of us

[1:36:06] sat in my office for hours upon

[1:36:07] hours and what I remember

[1:36:10] from every legislator that was

[1:36:11] in there or basically every

[1:36:12] legislator in there that the

[1:36:13] number one thing that we were

[1:36:14] gonna worry about was ratepayers

[1:36:16] we understood that you all had

[1:36:18] shareholders although you're a

[1:36:20] monopoly you're also a publicly

[1:36:21] traded company.

[1:36:23] and that was stated over and

[1:36:25] over and over again and if I

[1:36:26] remember correctly we had a six

[1:36:27] ppage amendment

[1:36:28] that went on to this

[1:36:31] and the original one didn't even

[1:36:32] have the psC in there and of

[1:36:34] course you know we've got

[1:36:35] through all this and I've heard

[1:36:37] what some people say, you know,

[1:36:38] you know, I don't

[1:36:39] particularly like this like this

[1:36:40] spill

[1:36:42] but you all sit down there and

[1:36:44] you sit there and you say well

[1:36:46] it's better that we're doing it

[1:36:48] this way because it you know

[1:36:50] it's getting spread out and the

[1:36:51] rates are less

[1:36:52] but in my mind

[1:36:56] I want to see that proved up

[1:36:58] and maybe through the psC and

[1:36:59] Mr. Webb

[1:37:02] you know, I want to know that

[1:37:04] you all agree with that and

[1:37:04] publicly out there because from

[1:37:05] my standpoint

[1:37:10] I want to know that if you did

[1:37:12] do the financing less so in

[1:37:12] other words if it wasn't put on

[1:37:13] the bill

[1:37:15] if you took that money and just

[1:37:15] went straight

[1:37:17] to it so that that's

[1:37:20] construction work in progress

[1:37:22] was not put on that rider that

[1:37:24] it would not be not be more

[1:37:26] beneficial, you know, to our

[1:37:28] ratepayers which are our

[1:37:30] shareholders. I don't blame you

[1:37:31] for what you do for your

[1:37:32] shareholders and Mr. Palmer, I

[1:37:34] don't really know you but read

[1:37:35] what you said in the paper

[1:37:37] also listened to what you said

[1:37:39] in here you know you said that

[1:37:41] you know it does help cover all

[1:37:42] of our costs. Well I assume all

[1:37:44] of your costs are also part of

[1:37:45] your dividends

[1:37:46] that you're paying to your

[1:37:47] shareholders

[1:37:48] so

[1:37:51] you know from my standpoint yes

[1:37:53] I can see where the way that

[1:37:54] you're doing it does cover your

[1:37:55] costs which I assume

[1:37:58] wouldn't you agree that a

[1:38:00] dividend's part of your cost but

[1:38:01] that's for a benefit of your

[1:38:02] shareholder

[1:38:05] which if we just applied it

[1:38:07] directly to the C whip program

[1:38:08] and we didn't put this on the

[1:38:10] ratepayer's bill y'all's earning

[1:38:11] per share may be less

[1:38:14] but at least it wouldn't be on

[1:38:15] our ratepayers's bills

[1:38:19] I don't know you know I can sit

[1:38:20] out here and listen to all this

[1:38:21] but I don't know how we justify

[1:38:21] that

[1:38:26] I I was hoping that since we put

[1:38:28] this back through the PSC that

[1:38:30] this type of stuff would be

[1:38:32] covered but at this point right

[1:38:33] here, I think that there's

[1:38:35] enough people out here that

[1:38:36] need to see that need to try to

[1:38:38] understand it so that we can

[1:38:40] relay that back to our

[1:38:41] shareholders the ratepayers

[1:38:42] So I don't know if you want to

[1:38:44] comment to that or where we go

[1:38:46] with that. I've just I

[1:38:46] personally do not like what I'm

[1:38:47] seeing

[1:38:49] well senator, I appreciate that

[1:38:50] and all of the costs that are

[1:38:52] included in the yder were

[1:38:53] authorized by the Public Service

[1:38:53] commission

[1:38:56] and they're subject to public

[1:38:57] service commission review

[1:38:58] throughout and they are costs

[1:39:00] that would be recovered one way

[1:39:02] or another the the traditional

[1:39:04] method that's been used in the

[1:39:06] past is to accumulate those

[1:39:08] costs during construction adddd

[1:39:09] them to the cost of the facility

[1:39:10] recover them over the life'm

[1:39:11] well I'm well aware of that

[1:39:12] little spin that we put on it

[1:39:13] you know with the

[1:39:16] financing cost and this and that

[1:39:18] and that that only works I guess

[1:39:20] as as long as everything's on

[1:39:21] the on the up and up it's just

[1:39:22] you know I have to look at it

[1:39:24] from another standpoint that

[1:39:26] although5 dollars a month is not

[1:39:28] going to draw any interest for

[1:39:29] anybody the cumulative effect

[1:39:30] over the whole the whole

[1:39:32] ratepayer you know the lost

[1:39:34] interest that they're going to

[1:39:35] be receiving during the time

[1:39:36] that you normally would build

[1:39:37] and

[1:39:40] was paying your own interest and

[1:39:41] those costs you know we had to

[1:39:42] calculate those in and net those

[1:39:44] out. So you know, I can look at

[1:39:46] it a different way like that but

[1:39:47] I just it just seems odd to me

[1:39:51] it just it just seems odd to me

[1:39:54] that with as much talk that was

[1:39:55] done whenever we were trying to

[1:39:56] prepare this amendment and it's

[1:39:58] a complicated bill. I mean, I'll

[1:39:59] be the first to say and it's

[1:40:00] even hard for me to understand

[1:40:01] being involved with it some

[1:40:04] but it's hard for me to

[1:40:05] understand

[1:40:08] whenever you look at this thing

[1:40:09] that from y'all's standpoint

[1:40:12] and you and this is your

[1:40:13] responsibility that your

[1:40:14] responsibilities to your

[1:40:15] shareholders

[1:40:18] why that you wouldn't have

[1:40:19] reduced the cost of the sea whip

[1:40:21] instead of doing it the way that

[1:40:22] you've done it

[1:40:24] and I just think that that needs

[1:40:28] to be proved up and once it is

[1:40:29] proved up I would like an

[1:40:32] explanation from the PSC and

[1:40:34] maybe some other attorneys and

[1:40:36] things like that that this is

[1:40:38] the most most effective way to

[1:40:39] do it for the ratepayer in this

[1:40:39] case

[1:40:42] so Mr chairir that may be more

[1:40:44] of a statement but like I say, I

[1:40:46] just would agree is that your

[1:40:48] question No'm not asking that

[1:40:49] because I don't I don't know and

[1:40:50] I don't think any of us know

[1:40:52] Senator hickey you have brought

[1:40:54] forth something that is the

[1:40:56] reason why I see us coming back

[1:40:58] next month and looking at this

[1:40:59] maybe with a little bit better

[1:41:02] magnifying glass a lot of

[1:41:04] this information that we're

[1:41:04] talking about today is stuff

[1:41:06] we've just learned whether

[1:41:07] the

[1:41:11] the articles in the

[1:41:14] newspaper were correct or not we

[1:41:15] don't know but they've been

[1:41:16] thrown out there and it's data

[1:41:18] that we have to deal with so

[1:41:20] I appreciate your comment I I

[1:41:22] agree with your comment and I

[1:41:25] want to I want give Mr bethel

[1:41:27] and Mr Palmer a chance to

[1:41:29] respond but I can also take

[1:41:30] gentlemen if y'all want to wait

[1:41:32] about a month we'll we'll we'll

[1:41:34] be back and maybe have our

[1:41:36] questions a little more concise

[1:41:37] but certainly feel free to to

[1:41:40] respond to whatsenator hickey

[1:41:41] said

[1:41:44] yeah we're certainly happy to

[1:41:46] come back. I would say and I

[1:41:47] don't want to take the wind out

[1:41:48] of Chairman Webb's sales but

[1:41:50] they did the when we got the

[1:41:52] rodder through the regulatory

[1:41:53] process at the APSC they did

[1:41:55] establish some reporting

[1:41:56] requirements around some of the

[1:41:57] very questions you're asking

[1:42:00] so that we can expand upon that

[1:42:02] with when I have it in front of

[1:42:04] me but the cost comparison the

[1:42:04] jobs and all the things that the

[1:42:06] law addresses the commission was

[1:42:08] very intently focused on when we

[1:42:10] brought that rider before him so

[1:42:12] there is some reporting

[1:42:13] obligations that we have that

[1:42:14] feed into their their reporting

[1:42:16] obligations as well but I don't

[1:42:18] want to speak on their behalf

[1:42:24] you'll be recognized you you can

[1:42:25] go to the top of the list

[1:42:26] senator hickey at that time OK

[1:42:27] thank you

[1:42:30] p re s ent ative innnnett and

[1:42:32] I'm gonna encourage you to be

[1:42:33] concise and quick

[1:42:35] yes sir

[1:42:38] thank you Mr Chairman. I have

[1:42:42] a question Mr bethel how much

[1:42:44] additional generating capacity

[1:42:46] will be needed for the google

[1:42:48] and LittleRock in the bio data

[1:42:49] centers

[1:42:54] Yeah if I could take that so

[1:42:58] beyond cypress solar that we've

[1:43:00] discussed we don't have any

[1:43:01] additional plans because of

[1:43:01] those two customers.

[1:43:07] and we residential customers be

[1:43:08] paying to finance the

[1:43:09] construction

[1:43:14] force of cypress solar no for

[1:43:15] the

[1:43:17] yeah for cy yes yes

[1:43:21] thank you that was part of our

[1:43:22] discussion of what's currently

[1:43:24] in the rotter. So Cyprus solars

[1:43:26] financing costs are currently on

[1:43:29] bills in that rider one more

[1:43:29] question

[1:43:32] but you better be quick I have

[1:43:33] to cut you off

[1:43:36] how was still River solar in

[1:43:37] Mississippi County be used?

[1:43:41] Steelleriver is an independent

[1:43:42] project that Google pursued on

[1:43:44] their own so we don't currently

[1:43:46] have any interaction with that

[1:43:48] facility. They they negotiated

[1:43:49] that on their own behalf and

[1:43:49] they they dealt with the

[1:43:50] counterparty.

[1:43:53] thank you thank youpresentative

[1:43:56] Bennett senator penzo and I'm

[1:43:58] not putting you seriously under

[1:44:00] the gun but please be mindful of

[1:44:01] our time I'll make it snappy

[1:44:02] thank you

[1:44:06] Mr Chair. how what's the

[1:44:09] expected energy consumption

[1:44:10] of the google Dataenter.

[1:44:16] I don't believe Google has said

[1:44:18] publicly exactly what their

[1:44:19] total demand is.

[1:44:21] we'd be I'd be careful I

[1:44:22] wouldn't want to disclose it on

[1:44:24] their behalf. OK, so we don't

[1:44:25] know if the

[1:44:28] 600 megawatts over or under what

[1:44:29] we need is that accurate?

[1:44:35] it's not public I would say we

[1:44:36] have demonstrated we have

[1:44:38] adequate generation with the

[1:44:40] addition of their load when we

[1:44:42] put cypress solar into our what

[1:44:44] we call production cost bottles

[1:44:45] which is how we model the entire

[1:44:47] bulk electric system with our

[1:44:49] load decide what resources we

[1:44:49] may or may not need

[1:44:54] when we put our generation fleet

[1:44:56] in the model with their load and

[1:44:57] cypress solar

[1:45:00] we see resource adequacy and we

[1:45:02] see our costs we see cost

[1:45:03] savings because our variable

[1:45:04] supply comes down those are the

[1:45:05] cost

[1:45:07] those are the energy benefits

[1:45:08] that we quoted or Mr bethel

[1:45:10] quoted for that facility quick

[1:45:13] quick follow up on that so is

[1:45:13] the

[1:45:16] did did I catch you saying that

[1:45:18] the the whole project's a $2

[1:45:19] billion project

[1:45:23] I think you're referring to Mr.

[1:45:23] Bethel's intro.

[1:45:26] well I mean oh well my on cyprus

[1:45:28] solar on cypress solar only is

[1:45:31] that rough math we've got the

[1:45:34] cost estimate is 1.6 billion but

[1:45:36] that is exclus excluding the

[1:45:37] financing costs we would

[1:45:37] otherwise

[1:45:41] put into that and recover over

[1:45:42] the 30 year useful life OK and

[1:45:48] the full 1.6 billion cost is

[1:45:50] part of that577 a month that

[1:45:52] goes to the ratepayer that full

[1:45:53] 1.6 billion? No right now

[1:45:57] and don't quote me on the math

[1:45:58] we've got that five year

[1:46:00] forecast that Senator Mcee

[1:46:02] discussed for the rider. so

[1:46:03] we're in year one of the

[1:46:03] construction activity

[1:46:08] so of the5 dollars77 cents per

[1:46:09] 1000 kilowatt hours that we

[1:46:09] quoted

[1:46:12] there's about 1 dollar76 cent

[1:46:14] that would be attributed to

[1:46:16] cypress solar that reflects the

[1:46:17] year one

[1:46:20] financing cost or the support

[1:46:21] for the financing costs for the

[1:46:23] year one capital outlay the full

[1:46:26] 1.6 wouldn't be in rates until

[1:46:27] it goes completely into service

[1:46:27] in

[1:46:30] a couple of years I can't

[1:46:31] remember the exact date

[1:46:34] and what's that change to 1.76

[1:46:35] what will that change to in the

[1:46:39] operational year? I I would be

[1:46:40] speculating if I tried to do

[1:46:42] that math right now that's good

[1:46:44] for now thank you but it is just

[1:46:46] the the financing cost is all

[1:46:47] that's recovered during the

[1:46:50] construction period and then the

[1:46:51] the total investment is

[1:46:52] recovered over the life of the

[1:46:54] asset and spread out over the

[1:46:56] life of the asset it's not all

[1:46:57] recovered at once.

[1:47:02] OK thank you Senator Penzo

[1:47:03] uhpresentativehudson you're

[1:47:03] recognized

[1:47:08] thank you senator and I

[1:47:08] appreciate you letting me ask a

[1:47:10] quick question and this kind of

[1:47:12] taps on to what Senator penzo

[1:47:14] was asking y'all about I was

[1:47:16] looking through an old article

[1:47:18] from the demgaz from March while

[1:47:20] everyone was talking and this

[1:47:22] was one of the first references

[1:47:24] to the5 dollars77 cents rider in

[1:47:28] that article it was reported

[1:47:29] that entergy estimated

[1:47:30] residential customers would see

[1:47:32] a monthly increase of7 dollars 9

[1:47:34] cents in the first year and by

[1:47:35] year5 customers could be paying

[1:47:40] up to $21.85 a month which would

[1:47:42] be4x what people are paying

[1:47:42] right now if you use the5

[1:47:46] dollars77 cents and then if you

[1:47:47] look at what senator Johnson was

[1:47:48] paying which is already $20

[1:47:50] something dollars, can he expect

[1:47:51] that his is going to go up to

[1:47:51] $80 in the next five years?

[1:47:58] no. thank you for the

[1:48:00] question. I believe the March

[1:48:01] article was referencing when we

[1:48:06] don't quote me on the math but

[1:48:08] we had proposed a different cost

[1:48:09] allocation that ultimately got

[1:48:09] approved by the commission

[1:48:12] and so there may have been some

[1:48:14] reporting on what we had said

[1:48:16] previously we the the

[1:48:18] legislation laid out a process

[1:48:20] where we had to go to the

[1:48:20] commission to get the roder

[1:48:24] established and then we provided

[1:48:26] our first update to that rider

[1:48:28] this year so when we went in

[1:48:29] last year

[1:48:30] to get the roder established

[1:48:35] we do the utility ratema here's

[1:48:37] how the costs come in here's

[1:48:39] what we'd go to residential if

[1:48:40] we do this approach versus that

[1:48:41] approach

[1:48:46] when our filing had a cost

[1:48:47] allocation among residential

[1:48:50] commercial industrial customers

[1:48:51] that was that original math and

[1:48:52] then what the commission

[1:48:54] approved had a different

[1:48:56] allocation so when we quoted the

[1:48:58] approved the residential number

[1:48:59] went to the5 dollars77 cents

[1:49:08] so

[1:49:12] so ratepayers don't have to

[1:49:14] worry then that this this5

[1:49:16] dollars77 cents or whatever

[1:49:16] they're paying right now is

[1:49:18] going to go up by4 or5 times in

[1:49:20] the next five years is that is

[1:49:20] that accurate

[1:49:22] we file a schedule that shows

[1:49:24] exactly what it's going to go up

[1:49:26] by based on the capital outlays

[1:49:28] we see for those resources so it

[1:49:30] will increase because we're

[1:49:32] building those facilities but

[1:49:34] when they're built it stops to

[1:49:36] beth Mister bethel's point at

[1:49:37] the fully cost at the full cost

[1:49:37] of

[1:49:38] that plant and then that's it

[1:49:40] and then that cost is

[1:49:42] depreciated over the life of the

[1:49:44] asset so all we're what we're

[1:49:45] talking about is

[1:49:48] instead of the rate going up to

[1:49:50] the full amount and then

[1:49:52] depreciate it down we're able to

[1:49:52] get some level of support

[1:49:56] now in that reduces the overall

[1:49:58] amount that then depreciates

[1:50:00] over time but we we provide that

[1:50:01] forecast in our rate filing.

[1:50:06] thank you Representative Hudson

[1:50:08] senator Irvin you're

[1:50:09] recognized. Does that rate

[1:50:09] forecast ever get

[1:50:12] changed

[1:50:18] the rate forecast in the roder I

[1:50:20] think it would move if I were

[1:50:22] because when we say the

[1:50:24] financing cost we're basing that

[1:50:26] on how much capital we have to

[1:50:26] spend so just to make up a

[1:50:28] number if we have to spend

[1:50:32] 50 $0 million next year to

[1:50:34] support building those three

[1:50:36] assets we're going to recover

[1:50:37] the financing cost for the500

[1:50:37] million

[1:50:42] if that500 swings because of how

[1:50:43] we've contracted with this

[1:50:44] construction company or that

[1:50:46] because we're using cost

[1:50:48] estimates for building these

[1:50:50] resources that would move it but

[1:50:52] otherwise it would largely

[1:50:53] follow exactly what we filed and

[1:50:54] at any time that you make any

[1:50:56] kind of an adjustment to that

[1:50:58] rate schedule or increase that

[1:50:59] goes before the PSC

[1:51:01] at any time or is it just

[1:51:04] at a certain time of the year

[1:51:08] can you do that without going no

[1:51:10] it's a it's a we update it

[1:51:10] annually just like our other

[1:51:12] mechanisms so we'll file early

[1:51:14] March for rates for June every

[1:51:15] year.

[1:51:20] and the the law provides for an

[1:51:20] annual filing so it it's a once

[1:51:21] a year

[1:51:24] revisit of of the and setting of

[1:51:26] the you can only adjust it once

[1:51:27] a year you can't adjust it any

[1:51:27] other time.

[1:51:30] it's only once a year yes ma'am

[1:51:34] and then like you said based on

[1:51:36] whatever you spend, whatever you

[1:51:38] presented to begin with as far

[1:51:40] as an estimate to representative

[1:51:42] Hudson's question the math is

[1:51:43] going to be

[1:51:46] different or is it going to be

[1:51:46] the same that you presented or

[1:51:48] it could change. It should

[1:51:50] largely be what was presented.

[1:51:52] I'm just noting that those

[1:51:52] numbers may shift a little

[1:51:54] because we are building3 large

[1:51:55] resources so

[1:51:58] over a three or four year

[1:51:58] construction window things might

[1:52:00] move a little but it should

[1:52:00] largely track what was filed

[1:52:04] thank you senator

[1:52:09] Mr Bethham Mr palmer thank you

[1:52:12] for coming we're as a Iu I

[1:52:12] warned you I guess I should say

[1:52:14] we're gonna have to come back

[1:52:16] and talk about this some more

[1:52:17] and committee members I'm

[1:52:19] I spoke with

[1:52:22] my vice chair senator Mcee and

[1:52:23] we're we're trying to work out

[1:52:24] of things so we're not here

[1:52:28] for another 23 hours and so

[1:52:30] we're looking at since we

[1:52:32] really this was not just about

[1:52:36] data centers is also about rates

[1:52:38] and the rider and the charges

[1:52:38] I'm gonna try to try to

[1:52:42] bifurcate this this subject

[1:52:44] we're going to hear from

[1:52:46] items6 and7 which is central

[1:52:47] Arkansas water and

[1:52:47] littlettleRock

[1:52:48] waterterreclamation Authority

[1:52:49] and then we will

[1:52:52] set a new agenda for our next

[1:52:56] meeting that would include of

[1:52:58] coursegy but also electric

[1:53:00] cooperatives and the PSC and I

[1:53:02] want to apologize to Mr Hasten

[1:53:04] and Chairman Webb and Mshofer

[1:53:08] for this postponement I know

[1:53:10] do it's not the first time

[1:53:10] you've had to sit through a

[1:53:12] hearing and he didn't get to

[1:53:14] your bill or whatever but

[1:53:18] I also wanna say to Chairman

[1:53:19] Webb our prayers are with

[1:53:19] Justice Webb

[1:53:22] for her speedy recovery and

[1:53:24] having her back on the court but

[1:53:26] just please extend all of our

[1:53:28] prayers to her that will be do

[1:53:30] and so if you would thank you

[1:53:32] folks for being here and if I

[1:53:36] would ask and Mr Bohannon M

[1:53:38] Block and Mr. Benfield could

[1:53:40] come on up. I think we can do

[1:53:42] this panel pretty quickly and

[1:53:44] we'll take everything else up

[1:53:45] at our next meeting

[1:53:48] is there a motion for that

[1:53:49] senator Mcee?

[1:53:54] is this second by senator

[1:53:56] the motion is that we'll change

[1:53:58] the agenda and finish this next

[1:53:59] month

[1:54:00] yes ma'am

[1:54:03] en er ban yeah

[1:54:06] thank you but I do I do think

[1:54:10] that we want to respect Senator

[1:54:10] hickey had a question for PSC

[1:54:12] and I don't know if senator

[1:54:12] hickey wants to

[1:54:14] next month I just wanted to make

[1:54:16] sure thank you senator Irvin and

[1:54:20] certainly we'll make sure we're

[1:54:21] right and then second all in

[1:54:21] favor say aye

[1:54:26] oppose ok thank you will and

[1:54:28] thank the three of y'all for

[1:54:30] waiting and we probably

[1:54:30] should have moved y'all up right

[1:54:32] after West memphis but that's ok

[1:54:34] we we we got you in today I

[1:54:35] don't wanna make you come back

[1:54:38] if you would each

[1:54:39] introduce yourselves for the

[1:54:39] record I would appreciate it

[1:54:44] yes sir I'm Jeanlock CEO of

[1:54:45] LittleRock Water Reclamation

[1:54:45] Authority.

[1:54:48] Rryan bennefield the chief

[1:54:50] operating officer for with

[1:54:50] LittleRock Water Reclamation

[1:54:51] Authority.

[1:55:04] my name is Tad Bohanon I'm the

[1:55:06] CEO of Central Arkansas Water.

[1:55:08] OK thank you and since you're

[1:55:10] first on the list MrRohannon I'm

[1:55:11] gonna let you go first

[1:55:14] well thank you all thank you

[1:55:15] chair senator Johnson thank you

[1:55:16] all for the invitation to be

[1:55:19] here we have had a long

[1:55:20] afternoon so I'll try to keep

[1:55:24] this as as short as possible

[1:55:26] central Arkansas water is a

[1:55:28] potential provider of water to

[1:55:29] two data centers in central

[1:55:31] Arkansas one being the

[1:55:34] Aveoenter on pulaski County and

[1:55:36] the other being the Google

[1:55:38] Center at the LittleRock Port

[1:55:40] Authority. I say a potential

[1:55:40] water provider because

[1:55:44] as of this point there has been

[1:55:46] no application filed to receive

[1:55:49] water from central to receive

[1:55:50] water from us at either data

[1:55:54] center and no plans for the

[1:55:56] development have been filed so

[1:55:59] it's it is a potential now

[1:56:01] I'm not trying to dismiss that

[1:56:04] but we also do not know the

[1:56:06] final details of what they are

[1:56:10] planning to do on those sites as

[1:56:11] far as water

[1:56:11] consumption.

[1:56:14] so

[1:56:18] until that occurs we can talk

[1:56:20] about the generalities that you

[1:56:22] have heard in the press in

[1:56:25] another conversations and our

[1:56:27] approach to it and I think the

[1:56:30] important thing to realize there

[1:56:32] is that central Arkansas water

[1:56:34] does not look at this economic

[1:56:36] development project any

[1:56:38] differently than it looks at any

[1:56:41] other economic development

[1:56:42] project and we are agno

[1:56:45] s tic as to what those projects

[1:56:48] are it is not our job as a water

[1:56:51] utility to say yes we like this

[1:56:54] project and no we don't like

[1:56:56] this project if a community is

[1:56:58] gonna have a project then we

[1:57:00] have to look at it and say can

[1:57:02] we provide water and if we're

[1:57:05] gonna provide water what are the

[1:57:07] terms and conditions of

[1:57:07] providing that water

[1:57:12] in this instance and how we are

[1:57:14] with all economic development

[1:57:16] opportunities if there are

[1:57:18] capital improvements that are

[1:57:19] required to be made to the

[1:57:22] system the developer of the

[1:57:24] project is required to make

[1:57:24] those capital improvements

[1:57:29] it doesn't matter if it's a

[1:57:31] Walmart store going on to an

[1:57:34] area that has not had service a

[1:57:36] data center on amazon warehouse

[1:57:37] or

[1:57:40] a residential subdivision a

[1:57:44] developer comes in with a re

[1:57:45] subdivision and says we want to

[1:57:48] build 200 homes and we say here

[1:57:50] is the water infrastructure that

[1:57:51] you must construct and pay for

[1:57:55] amazon warehouse came in and

[1:57:56] said we want to build a

[1:57:58] warehouse we said here is the

[1:58:00] infrastructure you are required

[1:58:03] to pay for and so it's the same

[1:58:06] analysis the only analysis that

[1:58:09] may somewhat be different is the

[1:58:11] size of the numbers that people

[1:58:14] have talked about in potential

[1:58:14] water consumption

[1:58:16] so

[1:58:20] let's look at that a little bit

[1:58:22] in that central Arkansas water

[1:58:27] yesterday delivered 11 million

[1:58:29] gallons of water to the half

[1:58:30] million consumers that we serve

[1:58:36] on a maximum day that we have

[1:58:38] heard any data center throw

[1:58:40] around it's about4 million

[1:58:41] gallons

[1:58:46] so we're talking about a4% shift

[1:58:48] when we have the ability to

[1:58:52] treat 157 million gallons of

[1:58:55] water and we already have73

[1:58:58] million gallons of water sitting

[1:58:59] in tanks

[1:59:02] so our total water available

[1:59:04] based on our tanks were filled

[1:59:07] up the night before and we have

[1:59:08] treatment capacity during the

[1:59:12] day of the 157 is 225 million

[1:59:14] gallons of water that could be

[1:59:18] delivered and the data center

[1:59:18] may need4

[1:59:22] on a maximum day that is not

[1:59:23] what they're gonna need every

[1:59:24] day

[1:59:28] it's what they would need on a

[1:59:30] maximum day and then you even

[1:59:32] heard them talk today it depends

[1:59:36] on what type of cooling system

[1:59:37] they use we don't know that yet

[1:59:40] that hasn't been submitted to us

[1:59:41] to look at

[1:59:45] now I do want to state before I

[1:59:46] be quiet because I said it'd be

[1:59:48] brief as I've told you central

[1:59:49] Arkansas water numbers

[1:59:53] and I wanna be candid in that I

[1:59:54] can't speak for every water

[1:59:56] utility in the state and I know

[1:59:58] that hope is looking at one and

[2:00:00] Clarksville is looking at one

[2:00:02] and they're already building one

[2:00:04] in west memphis and I gave you

[2:00:05] our numbers

[2:00:08] hopepe's maximum water capacity

[2:00:10] is 9.6 million gallons a day

[2:00:14] if they're looking at a data

[2:00:17] center I have no idea what that

[2:00:20] impact is on their ability to

[2:00:21] provide water so when you get

[2:00:22] down to it and you're just

[2:00:24] talking about what can CAW

[2:00:25] deliver

[2:00:28] it's a different conversation

[2:00:30] maybe then what could be

[2:00:32] occurring in other parts of the

[2:00:34] state and you already heard West

[2:00:38] memphis earlier say they shifted

[2:00:41] to air cooled because of water

[2:00:42] demand and now they're looking

[2:00:44] at well maybe in the future

[2:00:46] we'll have additional water

[2:00:49] supply so this very much becomes

[2:00:51] a community by community

[2:00:54] analysis of what resources are

[2:00:55] available and is there

[2:00:58] s uff ic i ent water available

[2:00:58] to serve the potential demand.

[2:01:03] and with that I'll be quiet and

[2:01:04] they can either answer me

[2:01:05] questions or we can go over Mr

[2:01:08] Bohannon and I have to say one

[2:01:10] of my favorite answers that

[2:01:12] witnesses gave said well it

[2:01:14] depends and that's in effect

[2:01:16] what you said and I appreciate

[2:01:18] the fact I do have one very

[2:01:19] brief question I was

[2:01:21] at this moment you don't

[2:01:22] anticipate

[2:01:26] having to choose between a data

[2:01:29] center or any other economic

[2:01:30] development project and those

[2:01:32] consumers like me that just want

[2:01:34] our water to come on when I turn

[2:01:35] the faucet

[2:01:38] not only do we not anticipate

[2:01:40] having to make that choice on

[2:01:42] any given day as to who we're

[2:01:45] providing water with but we've

[2:01:46] we continue to make the

[2:01:48] commitment when the next project

[2:01:51] comes along we'll figure out a

[2:01:53] way to make sure that we have

[2:01:54] the water to be able to deliver

[2:01:55] it

[2:01:58] Arkansas is a water rich state

[2:02:00] water should never be the reason

[2:02:02] we deny economic development

[2:02:04] opportunities in the state.

[2:02:07] thank you sir and Mlock

[2:02:08] and Mr Bennefield I recognize

[2:02:11] y'all together and let you

[2:02:13] divide up however y'all want to

[2:02:15] present this thank you and good

[2:02:18] afternoon Chairman Mcairld on if

[2:02:19] I can hold just a moment

[2:02:20] Representativeladyyman was your

[2:02:21] question specifically for Mr.

[2:02:21] Bohannon

[2:02:24] if you'll let me

[2:02:27] holdpresentativeladyman does

[2:02:30] have a question for Mr Bohan

[2:02:31] thank you Mr Chairman and I'll

[2:02:33] be brief. Mr. Bohannon,

[2:02:34] thanks for your information you

[2:02:36] gave the capacity you got and

[2:02:38] percentage and so forth but what

[2:02:40] I what I think I heard you say

[2:02:44] is that we should treat data

[2:02:45] centers just like any other

[2:02:45] project

[2:02:48] look at what the parameters are

[2:02:50] look at what we have so it

[2:02:53] should be just another business

[2:02:56] or commercial or whatever that

[2:02:58] it just produces data instead

[2:02:59] of widgets

[2:02:59] is that true

[2:03:04] as as a water utility I believe

[2:03:06] that is what how we should treat

[2:03:10] them we are not in the business

[2:03:11] as a water utility of picking

[2:03:12] winners and losers that's who

[2:03:14] gets to come to a community and

[2:03:15] operate thank you thank you

[2:03:25] thank you. I'm sorry to that we

[2:03:26] jumped around like that Misslott

[2:03:29] but you go right ahead you good

[2:03:30] after good afternoon Chairman

[2:03:32] Mcair Johnson and committee

[2:03:34] members thank you for the

[2:03:35] opportunity to participate in

[2:03:38] today's discussion. My name is

[2:03:39] Jeanlock and I am the CEO of

[2:03:40] LittleRock Water Reclamation

[2:03:41] Authority.

[2:03:44] our utility is the largest sewer

[2:03:45] utility in the state of

[2:03:48] Arkansas. We collect and treat

[2:03:50] used water from LittleRock and

[2:03:51] the nearby municipalities

[2:03:53] ofcammack village, Alexandria

[2:03:56] and College Station serving a

[2:03:58] population of over 200,000

[2:04:00] people we have three water

[2:04:01] reclamation facilities and we

[2:04:03] returned36 million gallons of

[2:04:04] treated wastewater to the

[2:04:05] Arkansas River every day

[2:04:08] Joining me is our COO Ryan

[2:04:11] Benefield. Ryan has played a key

[2:04:12] role in evaluating the technical

[2:04:14] impacts of the proposed Google

[2:04:16] Dataenter project in the port of

[2:04:17] LittleRock to our sewer system.

[2:04:21] as conversations about data

[2:04:23] centers continue in Arkansas we

[2:04:24] welcome the chance to explain

[2:04:26] our utility's role and share

[2:04:27] what we know as a wastewater

[2:04:27] utility.

[2:04:30] it's important to note that

[2:04:33] every sewer utility is unique.

[2:04:35] Each system differs in its

[2:04:36] treatment processes and

[2:04:37] infrastructure capabilities

[2:04:40] and today my remarks will focus

[2:04:42] on google's proposed data center

[2:04:44] in the port of LittleRock and

[2:04:46] how it impacts our utility, our

[2:04:48] customers and the infrastructure

[2:04:50] we manage. We have not been

[2:04:52] involved with any other data

[2:04:54] center projects outside our

[2:04:56] service area including the avail

[2:04:57] or the proposed avo facility in

[2:04:58] Wrightsville.

[2:05:02] Our customer base includes

[2:05:03] residential neighborhoods

[2:05:05] hospitals small businesses and

[2:05:08] industries of varying sizes for

[2:05:10] decades we have communicated

[2:05:13] early and often with industries

[2:05:15] who are considering operations

[2:05:17] in LittleRock to ensure that

[2:05:18] they understand our requirements

[2:05:19] and capabilities

[2:05:22] when an industry approaches us

[2:05:24] about serving them we must first

[2:05:27] answer some key questions. can

[2:05:29] we safely treat their wastewater

[2:05:30] while preserving our biological

[2:05:33] treatment process. do we have

[2:05:34] enough capacity at our treatment

[2:05:37] plant? Will it impact our

[2:05:39] current customers and can we

[2:05:39] support future growth

[2:05:42] the answers to these questions

[2:05:44] and others inform whether we can

[2:05:46] serve the industry and continue

[2:05:48] to maintain our mission of

[2:05:49] protecting public health and the

[2:05:49] environment

[2:05:54] before making any decisions

[2:05:56] about the google Dataenter we

[2:05:58] considered these questions and

[2:06:00] to answer them we commissioned

[2:06:02] an independent third partyty

[2:06:04] study in 2024 which evaluated

[2:06:06] the wastewater, the data center

[2:06:08] would generate. I will note that

[2:06:10] Google covered all the costs of

[2:06:13] the study while LrWrA retained

[2:06:14] independent control of every

[2:06:15] aspect of it

[2:06:18] In2025 we received the results

[2:06:20] of the study which showed that

[2:06:22] our Fish Creek treatment plant

[2:06:24] can handle the data center

[2:06:26] wastewater without impacting our

[2:06:28] biological treatment process our

[2:06:30] plant operations existing

[2:06:31] customers or our environmental

[2:06:32] compliance

[2:06:35] regarding available treatment

[2:06:37] capacity our Fish Creek facility

[2:06:38] currently has about 8 million

[2:06:40] gallons per day of available

[2:06:43] capacity. Our analysis shows

[2:06:44] that we can handle the

[2:06:46] wastewater from the proposed

[2:06:48] data center continue to serve

[2:06:49] our current customers and still

[2:06:51] have plenty of room for future

[2:06:51] growth in the port.

[2:06:56] Cost is another important issue

[2:06:58] we understand that people worry

[2:06:59] that a project like this might

[2:07:02] impact utility rates for LrWRA

[2:07:03] the answer is no

[2:07:06] in the same way we required

[2:07:07] Google to pay for the initial

[2:07:09] study, we would require them or

[2:07:12] any industry to pay all costs

[2:07:13] associated with transporting and

[2:07:14] treating their wastewater

[2:07:16] including any special

[2:07:17] infrastructure needed for their

[2:07:17] project

[2:07:20] LrWRA customers will not pay

[2:07:22] these costs and the project will

[2:07:25] not increase sewer rates for cus

[2:07:25] residents or businesses.

[2:07:29] we know data centers have

[2:07:30] sparked a significant amount of

[2:07:32] public interest and there are

[2:07:33] still questions about

[2:07:34] infrastructure environmental

[2:07:35] impacts and long term growth.

[2:07:38] these are important topics and

[2:07:40] people deserve clear and honest

[2:07:42] answers. We are committed to

[2:07:44] sharing accurate information

[2:07:46] about the parts of the project

[2:07:46] that fall within our

[2:07:47] responsibility and expertise.

[2:07:50] at our utility our mission does

[2:07:51] not change from project to

[2:07:52] project

[2:07:55] we work to protect public health

[2:07:57] protect the environment, provide

[2:07:59] safe reliable wastewater service

[2:08:01] maintain reasonable rates and

[2:08:03] responsibly manage the public

[2:08:03] resources entrusted to us

[2:08:06] thank you for letting us share

[2:08:08] our perspective today. I am

[2:08:09] pleased to be part of the

[2:08:10] discussion and Ryan and I are

[2:08:11] happy to answer any questions

[2:08:12] you have.

[2:08:16] thank you Misslock. I do not

[2:08:18] have any questions in the queue

[2:08:20] but if anybody oh I'm sorry

[2:08:23] y'all jumped in fast senator

[2:08:24] Mcee you're recognized thank you

[2:08:26] Mr. Chairman and thank you all

[2:08:27] for being here today. I

[2:08:28] appreciate your patience and

[2:08:30] letting us get around to you

[2:08:32] and coming to talk to us about

[2:08:33] the the experiences that you've

[2:08:34] had

[2:08:37] so what what I hear you saying

[2:08:39] is that when a developer comes

[2:08:42] to you the details of their

[2:08:43] operation are extremely

[2:08:43] important.

[2:08:44] that's if they're not

[2:08:46] forthcoming with those details

[2:08:47] you probably aren't going to do

[2:08:47] business

[2:08:49] and if you don't have the

[2:08:50] resources to support that

[2:08:52] industry you they're probably

[2:08:53] gonna need to find another

[2:08:53] location

[2:08:56] would you agree with those

[2:08:58] things? Yes sir as it relates to

[2:08:59] littlettleRock waterter

[2:09:01] Reclamation Authority very good

[2:09:01] thank you for coming today

[2:09:06] thank you senator Representative

[2:09:08] ladyman, I think you're going to

[2:09:09] have the last word. Thank you Mr

[2:09:10] Chairman and thank you all for

[2:09:12] being here and I I liked your

[2:09:14] presentation very much. so

[2:09:15] what what you said was

[2:09:19] you look at the what you're

[2:09:19] concerned about is the

[2:09:22] biological or chemical load that

[2:09:24] is in that water that you're

[2:09:24] gonna have to provide you're

[2:09:25] gonna have to treat

[2:09:28] in the process I suppose would

[2:09:30] be what's the data center or

[2:09:32] whatever it is this customer

[2:09:34] would have to come to you and

[2:09:36] ask for a permit and you would

[2:09:37] ask them questions about why

[2:09:38] does your ph load, what is your

[2:09:40] biological load, what's your

[2:09:42] metal load? doesn't matter who

[2:09:44] that customer is. everybody

[2:09:46] follows the same process and you

[2:09:48] know what your capacity is what

[2:09:49] you're capable you're how much

[2:09:50] volume you can change ph you

[2:09:52] know how much that is and you

[2:09:54] look at that just as Mr Bohan

[2:09:55] talked about you know

[2:09:58] what your capacity is and if you

[2:10:00] can serve that customer then it

[2:10:02] benefits the community you're

[2:10:03] all in if you can't you tell

[2:10:04] them you can't yes sir that's

[2:10:05] correct right thank you very

[2:10:06] much

[2:10:10] thank you Representativeladyman

[2:10:11] and and Senator Penzo did slip

[2:10:12] in there at the end so you don't

[2:10:14] get the last word he does

[2:10:15] senator penzo

[2:10:17] and then I'll come back to you

[2:10:18] senator hickey thank you Mr

[2:10:20] Chair. and actually have a

[2:10:24] question for Mr. Bohannon.

[2:10:25] and I'm sorry it didn't really

[2:10:26] pertain to data centers but

[2:10:28] was was it your water

[2:10:30] district that was running out of

[2:10:32] fluoride? Did I see an article

[2:10:36] is ok we have fluoride now it's

[2:10:37] in the water again Oh so you you

[2:10:38] have replaced the where where

[2:10:40] did you source that from? Our

[2:10:42] our regular supplier got a

[2:10:44] shipment to us and they unloaded

[2:10:45] a half a trailer yesterday

[2:10:48] everybody was sending me that

[2:10:51] article over the last yeah

[2:10:52] here recently so I just wanted

[2:10:54] to check. thank you no problem

[2:10:55] thank you one more question if

[2:10:56] you don't mind.

[2:10:58] how much how much a year do

[2:10:59] y'all spend in fluoride

[2:11:02] on florida acquisitions? I

[2:11:04] should have been better prepared

[2:11:05] for that question knowing how

[2:11:06] much it's been in the news. I

[2:11:08] will tell you this that we're

[2:11:09] working on our budget and

[2:11:12] they've told me it's a300% rate

[2:11:14] increase for 27 I mean Mr

[2:11:17] Bohannon if you will provide me

[2:11:18] with that information I will

[2:11:20] make sure that Senator Penzo

[2:11:21] gets it you yes sir

[2:11:24] I want to thank everybody for

[2:11:25] coming

[2:11:26] huh

[2:11:30] senator hickey I'm I'll come to

[2:11:31] you in a moment also

[2:11:40] Doctor Lane I didn't forget

[2:11:41] about you we're trying to

[2:11:43] shuffle. you will be invited to

[2:11:46] this October hearing and we'll

[2:11:47] try to do that I apologize I

[2:11:48] thought I could slip you in here

[2:11:50] but if you'll bear with us we'll

[2:11:51] we'll take care of that Senator

[2:11:51] hickey you're recognized

[2:11:56] yes just Mr Chair this is the

[2:11:57] thing I've asked the question

[2:11:58] whenever we come back next month

[2:12:00] of the psC that I would like

[2:12:01] them to do their own

[2:12:01] calculations

[2:12:05] of how it's more beneficial that

[2:12:09] that they thatgy spread that out

[2:12:10] or if it would have been more

[2:12:12] beneficial that it was taken

[2:12:14] immediately you know so it

[2:12:14] wouldn't have went into the

[2:12:15] writer

[2:12:16] so this is my thing

[2:12:21] I want to make 100% sure that

[2:12:23] somebody doesn't say well they

[2:12:25] cannot give this information out

[2:12:26] or you know we're bound by this

[2:12:27] or that

[2:12:30] and so I don't know if we need

[2:12:31] to get our attorneys involved

[2:12:33] and to try to work with entergy

[2:12:34] and also work with the PSC.

[2:12:38] and maybe the if entergy says

[2:12:40] well they're not supposed to do

[2:12:41] that but if they give their OKok

[2:12:44] maybe maybe the PSC can do it so

[2:12:46] the thing is is I just don't

[2:12:47] want to sit here for the next

[2:12:48] month and then all of a sudden

[2:12:50] somebody says oh no that's

[2:12:50] confidential information.

[2:12:52] there's proprietary information

[2:12:54] this and that. I don't care if

[2:12:56] they redact some of that stuff

[2:12:58] out and we get the the cost

[2:12:59] although I prefer to have it all

[2:13:00] but I just want to kind of head

[2:13:02] that off at the past if we could

[2:13:04] Mr chairir and just go one

[2:13:05] step further to make sure we get

[2:13:05] that information

[2:13:08] Senator hickey it sounds like

[2:13:10] you are trying to lay out some

[2:13:11] reasonable ground rules before

[2:13:13] we come back and look at this

[2:13:16] and I certainly concur with

[2:13:16] everything you just said

[2:13:20] because so much of this

[2:13:21] information that we've seen in

[2:13:24] the newspaper is literally it's

[2:13:26] part of it even today I think

[2:13:27] this will give us a little time

[2:13:30] to digest this ask them those

[2:13:32] questions we might not like the

[2:13:34] format that they want to do but

[2:13:37] that we can at least get an

[2:13:38] agreement of how we're going to

[2:13:41] proceed because we're again the

[2:13:43] whole idea of splitting this up

[2:13:44] was not so we could come back

[2:13:46] next month so we could get the

[2:13:47] real answers that we need so I

[2:13:50] appreciate that and certainly

[2:13:52] if we see things that their

[2:13:54] interpretation is not what we

[2:13:56] thought it was last year then we

[2:13:58] can look in January about maybe

[2:14:00] changing the law on that but

[2:14:01] let ma'am chair so

[2:14:03] so let me ask you this are

[2:14:06] before the next meeting through

[2:14:08] the chairs or the chairs going

[2:14:10] to attempt to to work that out

[2:14:11] among both parties to make sure

[2:14:14] that they that the PSC can do

[2:14:15] that information with with your

[2:14:17] guidance I will speak to

[2:14:19] co-chair shepherd and we will

[2:14:21] try to accomplish that so we're

[2:14:22] we're all on the same page when

[2:14:24] we show up inoctober and and and

[2:14:26] maybe they legally can't do it

[2:14:27] and if that's the way it is

[2:14:28] that's the way it'll be but if

[2:14:30] that's their position we'll have

[2:14:32] to deal with that but if it's as

[2:14:33] simple asgy saying no it's ok to

[2:14:33] release

[2:14:36] it then you know I'd want us to

[2:14:38] go to go down that path also.

[2:14:40] well you're asking the right

[2:14:41] questions and when we get those

[2:14:42] answers we can decide the best

[2:14:44] way to proceed thank you sir

[2:14:48] thank yousenator hickey I see

[2:14:49] no one else in the queue thank

[2:14:51] you all for coming and there's

[2:14:52] nothing else we are adjourned

Energy - Joint

Agenda

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