The Independence Gas Plant, a 1,499 megawatt combined cycle facility approved for Independence County near Newark, Arkansas, has cleared its final regulatory hurdle and is set to become one of the state’s largest new power investments this decade. The Arkansas Public Service Commission signed off on the roughly $2.6 billion project in mid June 2026, allowing the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC) to advance as majority owner and manager. Listed in filings as Independence Gas Plant Units Three through Six, the station will rise next to the existing Independence Steam Electric Station, the coal plant it is meant to succeed, which lets the developers reuse established transmission interconnection rights instead of starting a fresh and lengthy grid study. AECC will carry about 75 percent of the cost, an estimated $1.96 billion, while municipal utilities in Conway, Jonesboro, West Memphis and Osceola share the remaining quarter under a joint ownership agreement. Jonesboro’s City Water and Light is expected to hold roughly 260 megawatts of capacity. The facility is designed to replace generation that disappears when the Independence coal units retire by the end of 2030 under a 2018 legal settlement, with the White Bluff coal plant near Redfield closing two years earlier. Construction is expected to wrap by the end of 2030, and AECC has told regulators the plant should enter commercial operation in January 2031. Beyond the megawatts, officials frame the build as a way to keep generation inside Arkansas and avoid the price exposure that comes with importing power from neighbouring states.

What the Newark Gas Plant Means for Arkansas’s Energy Transition

Demand for dependable power generated inside the state has turned Newark and the wider White River Valley into one of Arkansas’s busiest energy corridors. AECC supplies wholesale power to 17 distribution cooperatives reaching 74 of the state’s 75 counties, so the loss of the Independence coal units removes a meaningful slice of firm baseload from a system that still has to serve growing industrial load. The cooperative’s answer is a combined cycle gas plant that can run around the clock, a different bet from the wave of solar now spreading across the eastern half of the state. Entergy Arkansas alone has brought online solar farms at West Memphis, Driver and Walnut Bend and signed power purchase deals for the Flat Fork and Forgeview arrays. A short drive southeast, in Osceola, one of the very cities helping to own the new gas plant, developer Green & Clean Power closed roughly $300 million in financing for a 495 acre solar and battery storage project that feeds the Hybar steel mill directly. The contrast is instructive. Solar and storage projects like the one in Osceola are cheaper and faster to build, yet they deliver intermittent output, whereas a 1,499 megawatt gas station supplies dispatchable capacity that does not rise and fall with the weather. Read together, the two projects show Arkansas hedging its coal exit with both renewable and thermal generation rather than betting everything on a single technology.

Independence Gas Plant Timeline and What Comes Next

With the commission’s order in hand, attention shifts to engineering, procurement and the supporting infrastructure the site still needs. A new natural gas pipeline must be laid to reach the plant, a piece Independence County Judge Kevin Jeffery has estimated at around $50 million. AECC has not yet named an engineering and construction contractor for the build. Regulators have set the $2.6 billion figure as a firm benchmark, ordering the cooperative to flag and justify any cost overrun before it proceeds, which keeps budget discipline front and centre. The payoff, officials argue, is considerable. Construction is expected to support roughly 800 jobs, with another 25 to 35 permanent operations roles once the plant is running, plus new city and county tax revenue across the region. The cooperative has told the commission it is not seeking an immediate rider on bills, though residential cooperative customers could eventually see an increase of about $6.65 a month, an amount the utility says is hard to pin down because individual cooperatives set their own retail rates. If the schedule holds, the plant finishes construction by the end of 2030 and enters service in January 2031, just as the coal units fall silent.

Project Fact Sheet

• Project Name: Independence Gas Plant (Units Three through Six)
• Location: Near Newark, Independence County, Arkansas, on the existing Independence Steam Electric Station site
• Project Value: Estimated at $2.6 billion, set as a strict benchmark by the Arkansas Public Service Commission in its June 2026 order
• Client / Owner: Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation as majority owner (about 75 percent), with municipal utilities in Conway, Jonesboro, West Memphis and Osceola as joint owners
• Main Contractor: Not yet awarded
• Key Components: 1,499 megawatt combined cycle natural gas generation, plus a new natural gas supply pipeline estimated at around $50 million
• Procurement Model: Joint ownership agreement splitting cost roughly 75 percent to AECC and 25 percent to four municipal utilities, built on the existing site to reuse transmission interconnection
• Construction Start: Expected to follow the June 2026 regulatory approval
• Expected Completion: End of 2030, with commercial operation projected for January 2031
• Jobs Created: About 800 construction jobs and 25 to 35 permanent operations positions
• Environmental and Social Features: Replaces retiring coal generation at the Independence plant, which must stop burning coal by the end of 2030 under a 2018 settlement
• Strategic Impact: Maintains baseload capacity inside Arkansas for AECC’s 17 distribution cooperatives serving 74 of the state’s 75 counties

Project Team

• Lead Owner and Manager: Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC)
• President and CEO, AECC: Vernon “Buddy” Hasten
• Joint Owners (municipal utilities): City Water and Light of Jonesboro, Conway Corporation, City of West Memphis and City of Osceola
• Regulator: Arkansas Public Service Commission
• Adjacent Facility Owner: Entergy Arkansas, majority owner of the existing Independence Steam Electric Station
• Engineering and Construction Contractor: Not yet awarded

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the Independence Gas Plant cost? The Independence Gas Plant is estimated at $2.6 billion, a figure the Arkansas Public Service Commission set as a firm benchmark when it approved the project in June 2026.

Where is the Independence Gas Plant located? The Independence Gas Plant will be built near Newark in Independence County, Arkansas, on the site of the existing Independence Steam Electric Station.

When will the Independence Gas Plant be completed? Construction is expected to finish by the end of 2030, with the plant entering commercial operation in January 2031.

Who is building the Independence Gas Plant? The Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation is the majority owner and manager, alongside municipal utilities in Conway, Jonesboro, West Memphis and Osceola, while an engineering and construction contractor has not yet been named.

How many jobs will the Independence Gas Plant create? The project is expected to create about 800 construction jobs and another 25 to 35 permanent operations positions.