Louisiana's $3B power upgrade for Meta project raises questions about
who should foot the bill
[September 25, 2025] By
JACK BROOK and SOPHIE BATES
HOLLY RIDGE, La. (AP) — In a rural corner of Louisiana, Meta is building
one of the world's largest data centers, a $10 billion behemoth as big
as 70 football fields that will consume more power in a day than the
entire city of New Orleans at the peak of summer.
While the colossal project is impossible to miss in Richland Parish, a
farming community of 20,000 residents, not everything is visible,
including how much the social media giant will pay toward the more than
$3 billion in new electricity infrastructure needed to power the
facility.
Watchdogs have warned that in the rush to capitalize on the AI-driven
data center boom, some states are allowing massive tech companies to
direct expensive infrastructure projects with limited oversight.
Mississippi lawmakers allowed Amazon to bypass regulatory approval for
energy infrastructure to serve two data centers it is spending $10
billion to build. In Indiana, a utility is proposing a data
center-focused subsidiary that operates outside normal state
regulations. And while Louisiana says it has added consumer safeguards,
it lags behind other states in its efforts to insulate regular power
consumers from data center-related costs.
Mandy DeRoche, an attorney for the environmental advocacy group
Earthjustice, says there is less transparency due to confidentiality
agreements and rushed approvals.
“You can’t follow the facts, you can’t follow the benefits or the
negative impacts that could come to the service area or to the
community,” DeRoche said.
Private deals for public power supply
Under contract with Meta, power company Entergy agreed to build three
gas-powered plants that would produce 2,262 megawatts — equivalent to a
fifth of Entergy's current power supply in Louisiana. The Public Service
Commission approved Meta’s infrastructure plan in August after Entergy
agreed to bolster protections to prevent a spike in residential rates.
Nonetheless, nondisclosure agreements conceal how much Meta will pay.
Consumer advocates tried but failed to compel Meta to provide sworn
testimony, submit to discovery and face cross-examination during a
regulatory review. Regulators reviewed Meta’s contract with Entergy, but
were barred from revealing details.
Meta did not address AP’s questions about transparency, while
Louisiana's economic development agency and Entergy say nondisclosure
agreements are standard to protect sensitive commercial data.
Davante Lewis — the only one of five public service commissioners to
vote against the plan — said he's still unclear how much electricity the
center will use, if gas-powered plants are the most economical option
nor if it will create the promised 500 jobs.
“There’s certain information we should know and need to know but don’t
have,” Lewis said.
Additionally, Meta is exempt from paying sales tax under a 2024
Louisiana law that the state acknowledges could lead to “tens of
millions of dollars or more each year” in lost revenue.
[to top of second column] |
 Meta has agreed to fund about half
the cost of building the power plants over 15 years, including cost
overruns, but not maintenance and operation, said Logan Burke,
executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, a consumer
advocacy group.
Public Service Commission Jean-Paul Coussan insists there will be
“very little” impact on ratepayers.
But watchdogs warn Meta could pull out of or not renew its contract,
leaving the public to pay for the power plants over the rest of
their 30-year life span, and all grid users are expected to help pay
for the $550 million transmission line serving Meta’s facility.
Ari Peskoe, director of Harvard University’s Electricity Law
Initiative, said tech companies should be required to pay “every
penny so the public is not left holding the bag.”
How is this tackled in other states?
Elsewhere, tech companies are not being given such leeway. More than
a dozen states have taken steps to protect households and business
ratepayers from paying for rising electricity costs tied to
energy-hungry data centers.
Pennsylvania’s utilities commission is drafting a model rate
structure to insulate customers from rising costs related to data
centers. New Jersey’s utilities regulators are studying whether data
centers cause “unreasonable” cost increases for other users. Oregon
passed legislation this year ordering utilities regulators to
develop new, and likely higher, power rates for data centers.
And in June, Texas implemented what it calls a ‘kill switch’ law
empowering grid operators to order data centers to reduce their
electrical load during emergencies.
Locals have mixed feelings
Some Richland Parish residents fear a boom-and-bust cycle once
construction ends. Others expect a boost in school and health care
funding. Meta said it plans to invest in 1,500 megawatts of
renewable energy in Louisiana and $200 million in water and road
infrastructure in Richland Parish.
“We don’t come from a wealthy parish and the money is much needed,”
said Trae Banks, who runs a drywall business that has tripled in
size since Meta arrived.
In the nearby town of Delhi, Mayor Jesse Washington believes the
data center will eventually have a positive impact on his community
of 2,600.
But for now, the construction traffic frustrates residents and
property prices are skyrocketing as developers try to house
thousands of construction workers. More than a dozen low-income
families were evicted from a trailer park whose owners are building
housing for incoming Meta workers, Washington says.
“We have a lot of concerned people — they’ve put hardship on a lot
of people in certain areas here," the mayor said. “I just want to
see people from Delhi benefit from this.”
___
Brook reported from New Orleans.
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