NEW OREANS – As global demand for eCommerce, social media, cloud storage, real-time map services, cryptocurrency, and artificial intelligence tools continues to grow rapidly, Louisiana is stepping into the game with Meta preparing to break ground in Richland Parish to build its largest data center ever. While some are concerned about the impacts on local energy supplies and greenhouse gas emissions, the prevailing view is that the $10 billion investment will be a major boost to Louisiana’s economy and will help rural northeast Louisiana to thrive.
Around forty percent of the world’s data centers operate in the U.S. Meta has over twenty operational data centers spanning Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, N. Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia as well as data centers in Denmark, Ireland, Singapore, and Sweden. A further fourteen are either under construction in Idaho, Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Wyoming, or planned in Louisiana, Tennessee, S. Carolina, and Virginia. Several states have multiple Meta data centers.
Just as human brains require water and fuel to absorb and process information to create outputs and actions, computers require energy to function and water to cool. The world currently produces approximately 402.74 million terabytes of data per day and a data center is where this massive, real-time flow of data happens. This level of output consumes large amounts of electricity and requires cooling systems that consume millions of gallons of water per year.
This is why some are worried that the Richland Meta data center will use too many resources and emit greenhouse gases in the process. Logan Atkinson Burke, Executive Director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy in Louisiana, has highlighted the potential for increased electricity bills if costs are not absorbed by Meta.
But both Entergy and Meta have stated they are determined to keep it clean and have gone so far as to say they will generate more energy and water for the local community than they consume. Entergy will construct three combined-cycle combustion turbine (CCCT) plants which run on natural gas plus “waste heat” with a total energy generation capacity of over 2 megawatts, enough to power approximately 400 homes. Meta says the turbines will have the ability to be thirty percent hydrogen co-fired to reduce emissions and Entergy has said the plants will someday transition to one hundred percent hydrogen fired through future upgrades.
Natural gas is the single-largest source of energy used to generate electricity in the United States, making up 43% of electricity generation in 2023 according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, so Entergy will need to take early steps to integrate hydrogen, a largely untested source, into their fuel streams.
Meta has pledged to match its electricity use with one hundred percent clean and renewable energy and will be working with Entergy to bring at least 1,500 MW of new renewable energy to the grid through Entergy’s Geaux Zero program for providing up to 2,000 MW of solar energy to large industrial customers who subscribe to at least 100 MW of solar resources.
“Entergy Louisiana’s role is clear: to deliver the cutting-edge electric infrastructure required to power this facility, including building clean power generation, transmission lines and substations,” said Phillip May, president and CEO, Entergy Louisiana. “But this is about more than just infrastructure. This is about laying the foundation for long-term growth, sustainability and prosperity.”
Regarding water use, Meta has pledged to restore more water than it consumes by investing in water restoration projects and prioritizing water stewardship with its global goal of being “water positive” by 2030. These projects include sustaining aquatic habitats by supplying fresh water to river systems during dry seasons and supporting the modernizing agricultural irrigation infrastructure to reduce the amount of water being extracted from at-risk sources.
Situated between the municipalities of Rayville and Delhi in Richland Parish, about 30 miles east of Monroe, Meta’s largest data center will cover more than 4-million square feet on 2,250-acres will transform the surrounding farmland which has seen a decline in population to 19,712 in 2023 for the entire parish.
The benefits to the region and the state will include job creation, a significant boost to the local economy through increased commerce and tax revenue, improved infrastructure, and the attraction of other tech companies and talent to the region.
Meta projects the data center will support 500 or more direct new jobs with average salaries that are at least 150% of the state per capita average and LED estimates the project will result in the creation of more than 1,000 indirect jobs, for a total of more than 1,500 potential new jobs.
Turner Construction Company, DPR Construction, and M. A. Mortenson will build the data center campus. “We anticipate that more than 5,000 construction workers will be onsite at peak construction,” said Ben Kaplan, Managing Director, Turner Construction Company. “There will be a concerted effort to source labor and materials locally.”
In addition, Meta will contribute to local communities through their “Data Center Community Action Grants program” for nonprofits and schools in the area. The Meta data center in Huntsville, Alabama, for example, has provided over $3.9 million in direct funding to local schools and nonprofits through this program.
Meta has also committed to contribute up to $1 million per year to Entergy’s “The Power to Care” low-income ratepayer support program, a figure that will be matched by Entergy Louisiana.
“The economic impact will revitalize a region that has faced challenges like population decline, offering new opportunities for residents, families and businesses,” said May. “At Entergy Louisiana, we’re not just powering a facility; we’re empowering a region to reach its full potential. Like our founder, Harvey Couch, who envisioned power as a catalyst for progress nearly a century ago, we are leveraging innovation to build a brighter future.”
The Meta data center in Richland Parish is slated for completion by 2030.
