An Arkansas mom and healthcare worker sent a routine public-records request about a Google data center deal. Days later, she found herself dragged into federal court — weeping in her work scrubs — as a local energy giant fought to silence her and the journalists she shared documents with.
Jessica Kivell filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Arkansas Public Service Commission seeking records on a data center deal between Entergy Arkansas and Google, according to the Arkansas Times. The government mistakenly handed Kivell documents that appeared to contradict public claims about who would pay for the massive infrastructure upgrades required to power the new facility in West Memphis.
She forwarded the records to a reporter at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The documents revealed that Google will pay only $526 million — roughly a third of the cost — for a new solar array required to power the data center, according to the Arkansas Times. That figure conflicted sharply with public assurances that Google would cover the entire expense.
Google will only pay a third of the cost, $526 million, of a new solar array required to power the data center.
Entergy dispatched a legal team to federal court Tuesday to stop the information from remaining public, the Arkansas Times reported. The company sued the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and requested a restraining order against Kivell, arguing the documents contained trade secrets and that their publication might violate state and federal laws.
Kivell arrived at the courthouse “visibly scared,” still wearing her work scrubs after arranging for her husband to pick up their daughter, according to the Arkansas Times. Throughout a closed-door portion of the hearing, Kivell wept loudly. She continued sobbing when she returned to the courtroom.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky issued a ruling Wednesday that denied Entergy’s restraining order request against both the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Kivell. The paper was free to continue reporting; Kivell walked away without restrictions.
Entergy disputed the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s reporting Wednesday and demanded a retraction.
“The information first published in the Aug. 31 Arkansas Democrat Gazette contains a serious and careless mathematical error,” Entergy alleged. “The calculation accounts for only 12 months of payments rather than the full twenty-year term of the agreement — a fact that was known to the paper but not included in its math.”
The company argued the true figure over 20 years would be approximately $2.103 billion — not $526 million. “In fact, as demonstrated by the evidence submitted to the Arkansas Public Service Commission, Google is not only paying its cost to serve but is delivering $1.1 billion in other benefits to Arkansas customers,” Entergy said.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette fired back Wednesday evening, alleging that Entergy’s defense rests on a “fallacious and unchecked assumption that the figure in question was the result of a mathematical calculation. This is untrue.”
“The figure in question, $526 million, was cited in documents obtained in the records request. The number, in other words, was not the product of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette performing calculations.”
“Entergy never inquired with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette about the source of the number,” the paper said. “Independent of us, Google repeatedly has cited the same figure of $526 million to other news outlets as well as to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Entergy, in fact, performs calculations in its statement that we have not seen substantiated by the records.”
Google issued a statement claiming it is “fully committed to covering 100% of the power and infrastructure costs for our West Memphis data center.”
“While upfront payments total $526 million,” Google said, “our ongoing monthly rates over the 20-year agreement will completely fund our operational footprint.”
The restraining order hearing comes as Big Tech data centers strain local power grids nationwide — and as transparency advocates question whether taxpayers are subsidizing the expansion.
