by Kyle Massey & Mark Friedman – January 12, 2026, 12:00am
A subsidiary of the world’s largest electric utility holding company is facing local opposition and legal scrutiny over plans to build a nearly $300 million solar farm near Ashdown.

Little River County taxpayers are suing County Judge Larry Cowling, testing his authority to use Act 9 industrial revenue bonds for the project, Little Ashdown Solar.

NextEra Energy Resources of Juno Beach, Florida, which has built a half-dozen of Arkansas’ largest utility-scale solar projects, is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc., a publicly traded behemoth with a market capitalization of $167 billion.

NextEra says Little Ashdown will bring 300 construction jobs to southwest Arkansas and provide millions in tax revenue to the county, but a payment-in-lieu of taxes arrangement tied to the bond issue would give a 65% abatement on the solar facility’s property tax bills and result in Little River County missing out on about $30 million in property tax revenue over the 30-year period.

“It’s honestly just corporate welfare,” said attorney Matt Bishop of Fayetteville, who is representing the group of taxpayers in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed in Little River County Circuit Court in July, argues that Cowling can’t legally sign off on the bond issue on his own. The Little River County Quorum Court voted against issuing the bonds, only to see Cowling proceed with the bond plan.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin issued an opinion backing Cowling, finding that a county judge has sole authority to issue Act 9 bonds and enter tax abatement agreements. But that conclusion is the central issue in the legal case, which is headed for a hearing on Jan. 20 on a motion for a summary judgment. The county residents who sued had asked for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented Cowling from issuing the bonds, but Kathleen Bell, a special circuit judge in the case, denied that request in October.

Local governments in Arkansas have used Act 9 bonds for 65 years to lure companies to build factories and other projects in their jurisdictions. The bonds finance land and equipment purchases, and the local governments take temporary ownership of the property while providing the companies a property tax break of up to 65% for up to 30 years.

Act 9 of 1960 was a spur for economic development, allowing private companies to make payments in lieu of taxes and repay the bonds with lease payments to the municipality or county. In the Little River County solar facility case, NextEra Energy Resources would make those payments with revenue from selling the power it produces.

Local governments are not financially responsible for repayment, but critics argue that giving tax breaks to multibillion-dollar companies amounts to “corporate welfare.” If a project is a sound investment, they say, private capital should fund it without government incentives. Opponents also argue that diverting property tax revenue could hurt local schools, and that taxpayers could face risks if projects fail to deliver significant economic benefits or new jobs.

Solar power facilities, once built, do not employ many local workers. Until recently, Act 9 bonds have traditionally financed manufacturing plants, steel mills and chemical facilities.   

Cowling defended his decision to issue the bonds in an Oct. 2 hearing, saying the solar farm would bring the county about $16 million in tax revenue over the 30 years the bonds are in place. He also said that he negotiated with NextEra to provide the county an additional $70,000 annually in administrative fees that will total $2.1 million over the 30 years.

NextEra also pledged $650,000 in community development grants to the county, he testified.

“I made my decision on what I thought was best for the county,” Cowling said.

But Bishop said NextEra’s promises aren’t in writing. “There’s nothing in writing committing this company to do anything; like they could abandon the project tomorrow,” Bishop told Arkansas Business. “The county gives up everything for no hard commitment on the other side.”

Tracy Jones, a plaintiff in the case, told Arkansas Business that if the solar project is built using the Act 9 bonds, “it will literally go in on one man’s approval.”

The side that loses the lawsuit is expected to appeal.

Contacting the County

Solar industry representatives first approached the county in 2024 to pitch the idea of building solar farms.

“At the time there was probably four or five solar people wanting to do solar,” Cowling said in the October hearing. “And so I had NextEra. I had companies from California. I had companies from Florida. I had different companies here wanting to do a solar project.”

Cowling visited with all the companies, but chose NextEra.

NextEra plans to build Little Ashdown Solar on about 3,100 acres of private land. Solar panels would cover about 1,100 acres and generate about 200 megawatts of power, enough to power tens of thousands of homes, Kevin Ulrich, NextEra’s Little Ashdown project manager, said during the hearing.

Plans call for the county to issue $400 million in Act 9 bonds. The special, limited obligation bonds would not obligate the county to make payments, attorney John Bryant of the Little Rock office of Mitchell Williams Selig Gates & Woodyard told Arkansas Business. The firm is NextEra’s bond counsel.

NextEra, or one of its affiliates, would buy the bonds. And under the complex agreement, Little River County would own the solar project and lease it to NextEra’s entity, Little River Solar.

In exchange, the county would receive 35% of the solar farm’s property tax revenue and NextEra would get the 65% tax abatement for 30 years.

NextEra Energy Resources LLC of Juno Beach, Florida, is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc., the world’s largest electric utility holding company by market valuation, about $170 billion. Other subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light and NextEra Energy Services.

Operating Projects in Arkansas

Stuttgart Solar: This 81-megawatt facility began operations in 2018, selling power to Entergy Arkansas.

Chicot Solar: A 100-megawatt project near Lake Village that came online in 2020, is also owned by NextEra and sells power to Entergy.

Searcy Solar: A 100-megawatt solar facility featuring 10 megawatts of battery storage; connected to the grid in 2022. NextEra developed the project and sold it to Entergy.

West Memphis Solar Station: NextEra also built this 180-megawatt project before selling it to Entergy as commercial operations began in January 2024

Forgeview Solar: NextEra built and owns this 200-megawatt facility in Mississippi County, selling the power to Entergy.

Flat Fork Solar: NextEra also owns this 200-megawatt project in St. Francis, Lee and Monroe counties. It began operations in August, selling electricity to Entergy.

Projects in Pipeline

Big Cypress: This 180-megawatt project is under development in Crittenden County.

Denton Island: It’s a 550-megawatt project under development in Craighead and Poinsett counties.

Omega Solar: This 500-megawatt field set for Crittenden County is also under development.

Scarboro Solar: It’s a 500-megawatt field planned for  Lee and Monroe counties.

Greenlee Solar: This 185-megawatt project in Lee County is in the pipeline, and could begin operations by the end of this year.

Flanagan Solar: A 200-megawatt project in Franklin County, NextEra reports that it’s scheduled for completion by December.

Little Ashdown Solar: A 200-megawatt facility in Little River County, it’s the project facing pushback and litigation from taxpayers opposed to plans for issuing industrial revenue bonds to pay for construction. NextEra puts the project investment total at $270 million.

Tupelo Brake Solar: This is a 300-megawatt project in Jackson County planned for operations by December 2028.

Green Mallard Solar: It’s a proposed 200-megawatt project in Mississippi County.

Manila Solar: NextEra is planning this 200-megawatt facility in Mississippi County southeast of Gosnell and west of Armorel.

The company has not announced the energy offtaker for any of the projects in development.

NextEra-Entergy Expansion

In 2024, NextEra Energy Resources and Entergy Inc. of New Orleans, Entergy Arkansas’ parent company, announced a joint development agreement to advance up to 4.5 gigawatts of new solar and storage projects across their service territories, including Arkansas, through 2029.

Cowling said that he read “most” of the bond agreement, but he relied on NextEra’s attorneys to tell him what the agreement said and explain it to him.

Cowling also liked the idea. With a population of about 12,000 and a budget of $4 million, the county “does not have any financial interest in this except the money that we would receive from the abatement,” Cowling said. “We do not finance it for them. They use bonds to finance it for them.”

Opposition Arises

On April 1, Little River County held a public hearing on the bond issue. Over three and a half hours, residents objected.

Jones said that county taxpayers didn’t want to be responsible for the liability of the solar farm if something goes wrong or it’s damaged.

“That abatement makes us the owner of that solar equipment,” Jones told Arkansas Business last week. “And as a county, we didn’t want to own that solar equipment.”

Jones said it’s not clear which entity is responsible if something happens to NextEra. For example, if a tornado or hail hits the solar farm, who would be responsible to cover the costs? he asked. “It’s just sort of unclear on that,” he said.

But he isn’t opposed to NextEra building the solar farm. “If the landowner wanted to build the solar farm, we want him to build that without tying the hands of the county,” Jones said. “We didn’t want to be responsible as a county for any of the things going on with that solar field, and that’s what that abatement does.”

Bryant, NextEra’s bond attorney, told Arkansas Business last week that NextEra is responsible for maintaining the property in the project. “So to the extent there’s any damage or anything like that, that’s a NextEra obligation,” he said. “The county is not responsible for that.”

Nevertheless, the Little River County Quorum Court issued an ordinance in July opposing Act 9 bonds for the project.

Two days later, Cowling said that because he is the county judge, he didn’t need the Quorum Court’s approval. He issued an order approving the county’s issuance of the bonds. He also vetoed the Quorum Court’s ordinance.

Taxpayers File Suit

After Cowling’s order, Jones and two other county taxpayers filed suit to stop Cowling.

In the lawsuit, attorney B.J. Walker of the Rose Law Firm of Little Rock is representing Cowling. NextEra is paying the attorney’s bill, Cowling said.

Walker told Arkansas Business last week that he needed to talk to his client before making a comment.

Ulrich said at the Oct. 3 hearing that he wasn’t certain that NextEra would proceed with the project without the bonds.

“The economics of the entire project come into play,” he said. “You know, as far as what the state of Arkansas grants with PILOT [payment-in-lieu of taxes] programs is incentive for big industry to come in and build. We’re no different than any other firm coming in to build a project.”

by Arkansas Business Staff – January 12, 2026, 12:00am
by Kyle Massey – January 12, 2026, 12:00am
by Arkansas Business Staff – January 12, 2026, 12:00am
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