MANY MINDEDGoogle Anchors a 2.5-Gigawatt Solar Build in Rural Arkansas
Google has signed an investment and offtake deal with Cypress Creek Energy for the Steel River Energy Center in Mississippi County, Arkansas, which broke ground on Tuesday. Google will act as anchor investor and offtaker, with a power purchase agreement covering the first two phases. When complete, the project is expected to be the largest solar facility in the United States, carrying 2.5 gigawatts DC of solar and 2.9 gigawatt hours of battery storage.
The build is planned in three phases. The first two will bring 1.6 GWdc of solar and 1.9 GWh of storage online, with full operation expected in 2029. Each phase is projected to create 700 construction jobs, and the project is estimated to generate $300 million in local tax revenue over its life. Google committed $5 million toward local energy affordability for residents and K-12 schools, and Cypress Creek pledged $3 million in community investment.
Corporate demand is now doing heavy lifting on the grid. Solar and storage made up 91 percent of new US generation capacity in early 2026, per SEIA. A single buyer underwriting gigawatts of clean baseload pushes more zero-fuel electricity onto the system, which over time weakens the link between energy costs and volatile fuel prices.
Watch whether all three phases finance and hit the 2029 target. The capacity, jobs, and tax figures are projections from press releases; Google did not disclose its investment terms; and the US-manufacturing claims are the company's own. Notably, Google's 2025 carbon footprint was still 18 percent higher than 2024.
Source: Construction Dive