Attorney representing data center developer AVAIO previously sought carve-out for project in Pulaski County moratorium
An attorney for AVAIO Digital Partners sought a carve-out for its Project Leo in a proposed 12-month data center moratorium in Pulaski County, Arkansas. Although an amendment to grandfather the project initially passed the Quorum Court, it failed to be approved as an emergency ordinance due to a miscount. A new version of the moratorium, which also exempts the AVAIO project, is set for a full Quorum Court vote on July 28.
An attorney representing AVAIO Digital Partners, Jacob Hill of Kutak Rock, requested a specific exemption for the firm's multi-billion-dollar "Project Leo" data center campus in south Pulaski County, Arkansas. This request was made in relation to a proposed 12-month moratorium on data center developments being considered by the Pulaski County Quorum Court. The suggested "grandfather clause" would protect projects with executed utility interconnection agreements or final county approvals.
Former Justice of the Peace Phil Stowers sponsored an amendment containing this grandfathering language, which initially passed the Quorum Court. However, a subsequent ruling by the parliamentarian indicated a miscount, resulting in the amendment failing to meet the threshold for approval as an emergency ordinance. Stowers later resigned from his District 13 seat, citing the contentious nature of recent Quorum Court business.
The Quorum Court is scheduled to vote on July 28 on a new version of the moratorium proposal, sponsored by Justice of the Peace Dianne Curry, which also specifically exempts the AVAIO project. Curry sought input from Entergy Arkansas, a utility company, for the language in this revised proposal. This measure was advanced by the Quorum Court's agenda committee on July 14, while a competing proposal from retired circuit court judge Wendell Griffen was not.
Separately, Kutak Rock also represents Google, through its associated LLC Altitude Capital, in an Arkansas Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. This lawsuit seeks to compel the Arkansas Public Service Commission to release records concerning special rate contracts between Entergy Arkansas and Google for a large data center campus in West Memphis and another project at the Port of Little Rock. Altitude Capital has requested to intervene in this FOIA lawsuit.