|
Entergy Louisiana in late March announced a new agreement with Meta that will mean the hyperscaler, which with Blue Owl is investing $27 billion in a data center campus in Richland Parish, will cover the costs of new infrastructure. “Structured to ensure Meta pays its full cost of service, the agreement is expected to deliver approximately $2 billion in customer savings to Entergy Louisiana customers over 20 years, in addition to the $650 million previously announced,” Entergy Louisiana stated.
“With the potential to scale up to 5GW, we are building foundations for the future of AI innovation right here in the United States. We’ve been working closely with Entergy since early on-site planning to ensure our power needs are met and, importantly, so that Entergy’s other consumers aren’t paying our costs,” said Rachel Peterson, vice president, data centers at Meta. “Entergy’s filing for new energy generation represents one of several factors needed to move an expansion of this project forward, demonstrates the business-friendly environment in Louisiana that makes projects like this possible and aligns with the principles in the recently signed White House Ratepayer Protection Plans.”
Site Selection’s Gary Daughters and Ron Starner had the scoop on this project and others in the January 2025 Online Insider “Data Centers Moving South.”
Entergy Louisiana’s planned buildout of generation, transmission and storage infrastructure, paid for by Meta, includes seven new natural gas-fueled combined-cycle power plants totaling more than 5,200 megawatts; around 240 miles of new 500 kV transmission lines connecting South Louisiana to North Louisiana and Arkansas; battery energy storage across three locations; nuclear power uprates; a commitment from Meta to help fund up to 2,500 megawatts of new renewable resources; and a memorandum of understanding to explore the future development and use of nuclear power.
Since 2024, Entergy has seen approximately $47 billion in hyperscale data center investments come to its territories in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The utility says data center customer agreements across those territories will mean approximately $5 billion in total savings for 2.3 million customers in those states.
|
