Judge denies Entergy’s restraining order request against Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A federal judge in Arkansas denied Entergy's request for a temporary restraining order against two news outlets that published confidential details about the utility's agreement with Google for a West Memphis data center. Entergy claimed the publications contained trade secrets and sought to prevent further disclosure.
Entergy filed a lawsuit against the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Arkansas Times, accusing them of publishing confidential details about a data center agreement with Google in West Memphis. The utility alleged that these documents, which were reportedly obtained by a private citizen through a FOIA request, contained highly sensitive trade secrets belonging to both Entergy and Google. The lawsuit sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions to prevent further use or publication of this information.
The Democrat-Gazette had reported that the documents indicated Google would only pay approximately one-third of the $1.6 billion cost to build the Cypress Solar Plant, which is intended to power its West Memphis data center. This report contradicted Google's previous assurances that it would cover the full cost. Entergy, however, disputed the newspaper's findings, claiming a mathematical error that only accounted for 12 months of Google's payments rather than the full 20-year term, during which Google is set to pay over $2 billion.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky of the Eastern District of Arkansas ultimately denied Entergy's request for a temporary restraining order. Legal arguments against the injunction highlighted the public's right to information obtained from the government, contrasting it with Entergy's claim of trade secret protection. Judge Rudofsky expressed skepticism regarding whether the details of electricity payments could genuinely be classified as a trade secret, stating that such information does not fit the definition.