Rising tensions in Little Rock as two massive datacenter projects loom

Little Rock, Arkansas is facing growing opposition to two massive datacenter infrastructure projects. Google plans to build a 1.43-million-square-foot datacenter (roughly $1 billion) at Little Rock Port, while startup Avaio proposes a $6 billion project 10 miles south in rural area. Opposition is bipartisan, with concerns focused on excessive water and electricity consumption, as well as environmental and social impact. Arkansas has industrial electricity priced between 5 to 7 cents per kWh, well below the national average of 8.71 cents, making the region attractive for compute-intensive infrastructure. A 2023 state law blocked local ordinances attempting to completely ban datacenters, though cities and counties retain regulatory authority. Pew Research analysis indicates that three-quarters of all planned datacenters will be built in the South and Midwest US.