West Memphis

Researched: 2026-08-02 · Lead source: Brockovich AI Data Center community map (2 resident reports, 2026-04-28 → 2026-06-02) · ZIP demographics: 63.8% Black, pop 24,182 (Census ACS 2023) · County: Crittenden (roughly 48% Black — verify at census.gov/quickfacts/crittendencountyarkansas) Status: Under construction — Google $4B+ campus, groundbreaking October 2025; Entergy special rate approved by the Arkansas PSC December 2025.

This report is research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice.

0. Snapshot

West Memphis 72301 sits directly across the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee — about 8 miles from the Boxtown/southwest-Memphis corridor where xAI's Colossus complex is fighting an air-pollution battle. The data-center wave has now crossed the river into Arkansas, but the Arkansas project is a different animal: it is Google, not xAI, and it is grid-and-solar powered, not gas-turbine powered.

• Google's "Project Pyramid" campus — a five-building hyperscale AI data-center campus on ~1,178 acres on the south side of Bollinger Road (site referenced as 1500 South Loop Drive), southeast of West Memphis's Main Street corridor, in Crittenden County. Developer/broker: Moses Tucker Partners (MTP); land held by Groot LLC, a Google subsidiary.
• Investment: Google states $4 billion through 2027; the underlying PILOT is structured on a $10 billion capital figure and the West Memphis City Council authorized up to $60 billion in industrial development bonds over 30 years ($10B real estate + $50B personal property/computer equipment). Called the largest private capital investment in Arkansas history.
• Power: Entergy Arkansas. The Arkansas Public Service Commission approved a special-rate contract on 2025-12-05. Google is committed to funding a new 600 MW solar project paired with a 350 MW battery storage system (sited in Jefferson County, AR) plus on-campus solar and a 26-acre substation.
• Water: Google says it will build a graywater/water-reuse plant to cool the equipment. The region draws on the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer (MRVA) — already heavily stressed by Delta irrigation — and on the Mississippi River.
• Jobs: ~300 permanent jobs promised; "hundreds of high-paying jobs" in city messaging.
• Community fund: a $25 million energy-impact fund to help low-income Crittenden County households with efficiency/weatherization.
• Unresolved / flagged: the Entergy–Google rate contract is heavily redacted — how much of the solar cost falls on ordinary ratepayers vs. Google is not public. Arkansas journalists (Arkansas Advocate, Arkansas Times) have written that officials rushed the deal and skipped hard questions on water and power.

1. The Facility & Where It Sits

• Developer/owner: Land acquired November 2024 by Groot LLC (a Google subsidiary) — ~1,117–1,178 acres bought from Bollinger Brothers Inc. for ~$16.5M per Crittenden County assessor records. Project marketed by Moses Tucker Partners (CEO Chris Moses; VP Chris Monroe). Internal code name: "Project Pyramid." (constructionowners.com, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Site: South side of Bollinger Road, south of the Coca-Cola Consolidated bottling plant, southeast of the Main Street corridor; address referenced as 1500 South Loop Drive, West Memphis, AR 72301. Total tract ~1,178 acres; developed campus footprint ~580 acres. (constructionowners.com; WeAreMemphis, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Buildings: five data-center buildings, a central office building, internal access roads, stormwater infrastructure, an on-site water treatment/graywater facility, and a ~26-acre electrical substation. Exact square footage and MW draw Not found as of 2026-08-02 (Google/Entergy have kept load figures redacted).
• Timeline/status: Groundbreaking marked 2025-10-02; under construction. An environmental review with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Memphis District) was underway. Google hiring for the site was reported February 2026. Construction estimated 18–24 months. (Action News 5, 2026-02-26, accessed 2026-08-02)

The border — where it sits relative to people

• The whole city is majority Black (West Memphis ~65% Black; ZIP 72301 63.8% Black), so this is not a "Black ZIP inside a white county" pattern so much as a poor, majority-Black Delta city hosting the state's largest-ever private build. Crittenden County overall is roughly evenly split (~48% Black).
• The campus is on former agricultural land south/southeast of the developed city, near the Coca-Cola plant and the interstate loop — an industrial-edge siting rather than mid-neighborhood, but in a small city where nothing is far.
• It sits across the Mississippi River from Memphis 38109 (Boxtown), the most-documented data-center environmental-justice fight in the country. So far the Arkansas project's power model (grid + solar + battery) is materially different from xAI's on-site gas turbines.

2. Public Hearings & Notices

Upcoming: No specific future hearing date was published on a public source we could reach as of 2026-08-02. Watch the West Memphis City Council agenda and the Arkansas PSC docket (Section 8).

3. Power

• Serving utility: Entergy Arkansas. The Arkansas PSC approved a special-rate contract on 2025-12-05 structured so that, per Entergy and the Commission, Google bears the full incremental cost and existing customers are not meant to subsidize the load. Entergy has said the deal delivers ~$1.1B in net benefits over the contract life and could reduce other customers' rates. (arkansasonline; Entergy, accessed 2026-08-02)
• The transparency problem: the filed contract is heavily redacted. How much of the new 600 MW solar field is covered by Google's special rate versus how much other ratepayers ultimately carry is not public. Reporting noted customers would otherwise have faced roughly $2/month more to finance new generating capacity for the load. (arkansasonline — "Google, Entergy keeping energy rate contract secret"; Arkansas Times, accessed 2026-08-02)
• New generation: Google committed to fund a 600 MW solar project + 350 MW battery energy storage system (reported in Jefferson County / central Arkansas) plus on-campus solar and a ~26-acre substation connecting to the local grid. This is a fundamentally different power model from xAI's Memphis gas turbines. (Google blog; AOL/Google solar, accessed 2026-08-02)
• On-site gas generation: None announced as of 2026-08-02 (contrast with xAI across the river).

4. Water & Drought

• Cooling water: Google says the campus will include a graywater/water-reuse plant to cool equipment rather than draw exclusively on fresh supply. Exact daily withdrawal figures Not found as of 2026-08-02. (Google blog, accessed 2026-08-02)
• The aquifer: the Arkansas Delta sits on the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer (MRVA) — one of the most heavily pumped aquifers in the nation, drawn down mostly by row-crop irrigation (roughly 10 billion gallons/day regionally as of 2005). Any large new industrial draw lands on top of an already-stressed system. (USGS / data.gov MRVA; Waterways Journal, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Municipal system: West Memphis municipal water/wastewater is run through the West Memphis Utility Commission (westmemphisutilities.com). Confirm with the Commission whether the campus is served by municipal water, on-site wells, or river/graywater — this is the single most important local question and was not fully public as of 2026-08-02.
• Drought: As of 2026-06-09 roughly 89% of Arkansas was under drought conditions. County-level classification for Crittenden County should be checked live at droughtmonitor.unl.edu. (plantmaps AR, accessed 2026-08-02)

5. Population & Who Lives Here

• ZIP 72301: 63.8% Black, pop 24,182 (Census ACS 2023). City of West Memphis ~65.6% Black, ~28.7% white; population declining (28,259 in 1990 → ~23,300 estimated 2025). (Wikipedia — West Memphis, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Income & poverty: long-standing high poverty (28%+ in census figures; median household income historically under $30,000) — this is one of the poorer cities in the Arkansas Delta.
• Historical context: West Memphis is a Delta river city that has lost population and industry for decades; the Google campus is being sold locally as a once-in-a-generation reversal. The framing of a "Digital Delta" — a nine-county, three-state region — is part of that pitch.
• Documented health burden specific to 72301 from this project: Not found as of 2026-08-02 (unlike Memphis 38109, there is no operating facility yet and no air-monitoring record). The main near-term burdens to watch are water draw, construction traffic/dust, and electricity cost transparency, not gas-turbine emissions.

6. Money — Abatements, Incentives, Jobs

• PILOT / bonds: West Memphis City Council authorized up to $60 billion in industrial development bonds over 30 years — $10B for real estate and $50B for personal property (computer equipment) — with a PILOT that can translate to up to $50 billion in personal-property tax abatement over the agreement. This is the mechanism; the net local revenue after the PILOT is the number residents should press for. (Arkansas Business; arkansasonline — $60B bond, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Community fund: $25 million energy-impact fund for low-income Crittenden County households (bill assistance + weatherization). (Google blog, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Jobs: ~300 permanent jobs cited; "hundreds of high-paying jobs" in city messaging. As with all hyperscale sites, permanent headcount is far below construction peak — ask for the written jobs commitment and clawback terms.
• Ratepayer economics: the redacted special-rate contract is itself a money question (Section 3). Entergy projects net benefits; critics note the redactions make that unverifiable.

7. Community Reaction & News Coverage

• Local/state outlets covering it closely: Arkansas Advocate, Arkansas Times (Arkansas Blog), Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / arkansasonline.com, Arkansas Business, Talk Business & Politics, West Memphis Evening Times, plus Memphis-market TV that covers the Arkansas side (WREG, Action News 5/WMC, KATV).
• Skeptical coverage: Arkansas Advocate published "Fear of Missing Out on data center boom leads Arkansas officials to ignore hard questions" (2025-12-12), and the Arkansas Times flagged that details on the West Memphis rate agreement are "scant" and redacted. The recurring criticisms are (1) secrecy of the Entergy rate deal, (2) water use in a drought-stressed Delta, and (3) whether 300 jobs justify tens of billions in abatement. (Arkansas Advocate; Arkansas Times, accessed 2026-08-02)
• Organized opposition / lawsuits: None found as of 2026-08-02. Unlike Memphis across the river, there is no known lawsuit, petition, or organized opposition group for the West Memphis project — the posture so far is civic enthusiasm. That absence is itself worth noting.

8. Find Out For Yourself

City

City of West Memphis — City Hall

• 205 S. Redding St., West Memphis, AR 72301 (mailing: P.O. Box 1728, West Memphis, AR 72301)
• Mayor Marco McClendon — Mayor's Office (870) 732-7500 · mmcclendon@westmemphisar.gov
• City Clerk Patricia Joplin — (870) 732-7510
• City site + staff directory/agendas: westmemphisar.gov
• Ask the Clerk for: the PILOT ordinance and bond authorization (approved May 2025), the development agreement with Groot LLC/Google, and the jobs/clawback terms.

Utilities

West Memphis Utility Commission (municipal water/wastewater) — westmemphisutilities.com · ask whether the campus is served by municipal water, on-site wells, or graywater, and what the projected daily draw is. Entergy Arkansas — entergy.com/datacenters/arkansas · ask for the public (unredacted) portions of the special-rate contract and what happens to residential rates if the solar project slips.

State

Arkansas Public Service Commission — apsc.arkansas.gov · search the docket for the Entergy Arkansas–Google special rate (approved 2025-12-05). Public comments and filings are docketed here. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Memphis District — mvm.usace.army.mil · ask about the wetlands/waters permit and environmental review for the Bollinger Road site.

County

Crittenden County — crittendencountyar.org · County Assessor holds the Groot LLC land records; Quorum Court for county-level actions.

Six questions worth asking on the phone

1. To the City Clerk: What is the net revenue to West Memphis after the PILOT — i.e., how much does the city actually collect per year versus full personal-property tax, and for how long?
2. To the Utility Commission: How many gallons per day will the campus draw, from what source (municipal, wells, river, graywater), and does the graywater plant have to be operating before the data center does?
3. To Entergy / the PSC: Which parts of the 600 MW solar + 350 MW battery cost are inside Google's special rate, and which fall on ordinary Entergy Arkansas customers?
4. To the PSC: Where can residents file comments on the Google rate docket, and will an unredacted version ever be public?
5. To the Mayor's office: What is the written permanent-jobs commitment (headcount, wages, local-hire), and what is the clawback if Google misses it?
6. To the Army Corps: What wetlands or waters are affected on the Bollinger Road tract, and is there a public comment period?

9. If You're Thinking About Moving Here

Neutral read, given what is documented:

• Air. Unlike Memphis across the river, there is no on-site gas generation announced and no operating facility yet — the power model is grid + solar + battery. Near-term air impacts are construction dust/traffic, not turbine emissions. This is a meaningfully lower air-pollution profile than 38109.
• Water. The real question. You are in a drought-stressed Delta on a heavily over-pumped alluvial aquifer. Google promises a graywater/reuse plant; get the daily-draw number and the source in writing before assuming it's benign.
• Power bills. Entergy and the PSC say Google carries the cost and bills may even fall — but the contract is redacted, so that claim can't be independently checked. Watch your Entergy Arkansas bill and the PSC docket.
• Land & jobs. Expect land-price and development pressure along the south loop / Bollinger Road corridor and a "Digital Delta" build-out pitch. The permanent job count (~300) is modest against the size of the tax abatement; construction jobs are temporary.
• What's unresolved: the redacted rate deal; the actual water source and volume; whether the graywater plant is finished before operations start; and the true net local revenue after a PILOT that abates up to $50B in personal property.

If you're considering moving to or staying in 72301, the practical steps are to call the West Memphis Utility Commission about water, pull the PILOT/development agreement from the City Clerk, and read the Arkansas PSC docket on the Entergy rate.

10. Sources

All accessed 2026-08-02.

1. Construction Owners — "Five-Building Data Center Campus Proposed for West Memphis, Arkansas" (Project Pyramid, Groot LLC, Entergy, $10B PILOT, Bollinger Rd) — https://www.constructionowners.com/news/five-building-data-center-campus-proposed-for-west-memphis-arkansas
2. Arkansas Advocate — "Google, state and local officials mark start of $4 billion AI data center in West Memphis" (2025-10-02) — https://arkansasadvocate.com/2025/10/02/google-state-and-local-officials-mark-start-of-4-billion-ai-data-center-in-west-memphis/
3. Arkansas Advocate — "Fear of Missing Out on data center boom leads Arkansas officials to ignore hard questions" (2025-12-12) — https://arkansasadvocate.com/2025/12/12/fear-of-missing-out-on-data-center-boom-leads-arkansas-officials-to-ignore-hard-questions/
4. Arkansas Times — "The AI economy comes to the Arkansas Delta" (2025-10-02) — https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/10/02/the-ai-economy-comes-to-the-arkansas-delta
5. Arkansas Times — "Solar project in Grant County to help power Google data centers; details are scant on West Memphis agreement" (2025-11-12) — https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/11/12/solar-project-in-grant-county-to-help-power-google-data-centers-details-are-scant-on-west-memphis-agreement
6. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / arkansasonline — "PSC approves Google, Entergy power contract" (2025-12-05) — https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/dec/05/psc-approves-google-entergy-power-contract/
7. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / arkansasonline — "Google, Entergy keeping energy rate contract secret for $4 billion West Memphis project" (2026-05-03) — https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2026/may/03/google-entergy-keeping-energy-rate-contract/
8. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / arkansasonline — "Google data center poises West Memphis for boom; project bond issue totals could reach $60 billion" (2026-06-04) — https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2026/jun/04/google-data-center-poises-west-memphis-for-boom/
9. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / arkansasonline — "Google West Memphis data center at least $1 billion" (2025-09-08) — https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/sep/08/google-west-memphis-data-center-at-least-1-billion/
10. Arkansas Business — "As Expected, Google Is Behind Multibillion-Dollar Data Center in West Memphis" — https://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/google-data-center-west-memphis/
11. KATV — "Google to build new $10 billion data center campus in West Memphis" (Moses Tucker Partners, $50B personal-property abatement, substation) — https://katv.com/news/local/google-to-build-new-10-billion-data-center-campus-in-west-memphis-moses-tucker-partners-artificial-intelligence-data-infrastructure-campus-private-capital-investment-center-facilities-office-buildings-enhanced-substaion-stormwater-infrastructure-property
12. DCD — "Google confirmed to be behind West Memphis data center project in Arkansas" — https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/google-confirmed-to-be-behind-west-memphis-data-center-project-in-arkansas/
13. DCD — "Entergy Arkansas to power planned Google data center in West Memphis" — https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/entergy-arkansas-to-power-planned-google-data-center-in-west-memphis/
14. Talk Business & Politics — "Google announces plan to build $4 billion data center in West Memphis" (2025-10) — https://talkbusiness.net/2025/10/google-announces-plan-to-build-4-billion-data-center-in-west-memphis/
15. Google Blog — "Google is investing in Arkansas with a new data center, energy efficiency programs and more" ($25M fund, graywater, 600MW solar + 350MW battery, 300 jobs) — https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/company-announcements/google-american-innovation-arkansas/
16. Action News 5 — "Google hiring for new West Memphis data center" (2026-02-26) — https://www.actionnews5.com/2026/02/26/google-hiring-new-west-memphis-data-center/
17. Action News 5 — "Google breaks ground on $4B data center in West Memphis" (2025-10-02) — https://www.actionnews5.com/2025/10/02/google-makes-special-announcement-west-memphis/
18. WeAreMemphis — "Google Confirms $1 Billion Data Center Campus in Memphis Area" — https://wearememphis.com/news/google-confirms-1-billion-data-center-campus-in-memphis-area/
19. Entergy — "Data centers and Entergy Arkansas customers" — https://www.entergy.com/datacenters/arkansas
20. Waterways Journal — "Sinking The Water-Use Myth Of Data Centers" (2025-10-17) — https://www.waterwaysjournal.net/2025/10/17/sinking-the-water-use-myth-of-data-centers/
21. USGS / data.gov — "Groundwater withdrawal zones … Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer" — https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/groundwater-withdrawal-zones-for-drinking-water-from-the-mississippi-river-valley-alluvial
22. PlantMaps — Arkansas current drought conditions (2026-06-09) — https://www.plantmaps.com/en/us/state/arkansas/current-drought-conditions
23. U.S. Drought Monitor — Arkansas — https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?AR
24. Wikipedia — West Memphis, Arkansas (demographics, ZIPs, utilities) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis,_Arkansas
25. City of West Memphis — My Government / staff directory — https://www.westmemphisar.gov/27/My-Government
26. West Memphis Utility Commission — http://www.westmemphisutilities.com
27. Arkansas Public Service Commission — https://apsc.arkansas.gov