Facebook’s parent company, Meta, will construct a $10 billion artificial intelligence data center in northeast Louisiana, promising technological innovation and jobs, but critics question the project’s economic benefits and future impact on utility ratepayers.
Gov. Jeff Landry and the secretary of Louisiana Economic Development, Susan Bourgeois, announced the project – the largest of more than 20 such Meta AI centers worldwide – on Dec. 4. The plant, which will cover 4 million square feet in Richland Parish, is expected to produce 500 new jobs, more than 1,000 indirect jobs and a peak construction workforce of 5,000, according to the Governor’s Office.
“Meta’s investment establishes the region as an anchor in Louisiana’s rapidly expanding tech sector, revitalizes one of our state’s beautiful rural areas and creates opportunities for Louisiana workers to fill high-paying jobs of the future,” Landry said in a prepared statement.
The project will go hand in hand with plans by the electricity utility Entergy to expand its power generation to support the development. The governor’s announcement stressed that Entergy will be focused on increasing clean and renewable energy to support the program, but a utility watchdog has criticized the details of the energy plan.
The Alliance for Affordable Energy (AAE), an intervenor in the Entergy/Meta proceedings before the Louisiana Public Service Commission, said Entergy Louisiana (ELL) has sought permission to build three new plants powered by natural gas to power the new facility, which will be located on a 2,250-acre site.
“That’s a 25% increase in ELL’s power generation – and a hefty price tag – for a facility that has a 35- to 40-year lifespan, but only a 15-year agreement with Meta,” Jessica Hendricks, AAE’s state policy director, said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record. “Who is going to need, and pay for, 2.3 (gigawatts) after that?”
The alliance also pointed out that the vast majority of jobs produced by the project will be temporary construction positions and said there are no concrete plans to require that local residents are hired for the jobs that are produced.
ELL has indicated that solar and carbon-capture technologies could be employed as plans evolve, but as of now, fossil fuel plants remain a major part of the future plans.
“If we’re going to take on billions in costs, we need guarantees that this is the best option for Louisianans, not just the fastest,” Logan Burke, AAE’s executive director, said. “This project has been marketed as a ‘game-changing’ opportunity, but the truth is Louisiana residents could be on the hook for significant costs and will bear all the risk should conditions change.”
State officials, however, stress that Meta will match its electricity use with “100% clean and renewable energy,” that Meta has pledged to invest more than $200 million to expand the region’s infrastructure, including improvements to roads and water supply systems, and that Delta Community College would bolster its construction-trades training programs to meet initial construction activities, which will continue through 2030.
Officials’ support for the Meta projects stands in contrast to recent litigation filed against Meta and other social media companies that Louisiana has endorsed. Last year, Louisiana joined more than 30 other states in filing a federal lawsuit against Meta, accusing it and Instagram of knowingly creating online platforms that are addictive to children and teens and that endanger their mental health.
Data centers like the one to be built in northeast Louisiana will support AI workloads in support of technologies such as Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads.
Meta will also be receiving tax breaks in the future, including a sales and use tax rebate for the purchase equipment needed for the AI data center.