Louisiana PSC approves Entergy plan to power Meta AI data center with three gas plants

The Louisiana Public Service Commission approved the plan to build three combined cycle gas turbine production facilities to provide power to Entergy Louisiana’s new AI data center in Richland Parish. Two local plants are built, third. It will be built in Waterford in Charles Parish. The facilities are expected to be operational in 2028 and 2029. The Commission also allowed the new transmission infrastructure and accelerated the supply of solar sources of solar energy up to 1,500 megawatt.

Data Center Scope and Energy Requirements

Meta plans to invest 10 billion dollars, which will be the largest data center worldwide, covering approximately 70 football fields. Entergy estimates that the turbines will produce enough capacity to meet the energy needs of the facility. Industrial projections show that increasing power demand from artificial intelligence projects increases similar infrastructure growth in the United States.

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Public Discussion and Commissioner Voting

The PSC vote was 4-1, and the commissioner Davante Lewis opposed the unresolved uncertainties and worries about hurling the decision before the planned October Timeline. Public meetings emphasized discussions on the potential cost burden on transparency and ratio taxpayers, and some commission members argued that the project was very important to delay more.

Create business and local benefits

Authorities foresees significant economic benefits from development, including permanent works, construction employment and wider growth in Northeast Louisiana. The investment scale is expected to bring both short -term opportunities and long -term infrastructure advantages to the region.

Wider context and energy inferences

It is foreseen that Meta’s facility will consume approximately three times the annual electricity used by New Orleans and represent a large addition to Entergy’s burden. Critics warn that the 30 -year life of gas facilities can withstand Meta’s 15 -year power agreement for longer than the 15 -year power contract and that it may leave long -term risks for price taxpayers. Nationally, similar benefit technology partnerships, artificial intelligence, reshape the energy sector as it increases unprecedented electricity demand.