Entergy Louisiana gains regulatory approval for massive Meta power project

PLAQUEMINE – State utility regulators approved a plan Wednesday to install three natural-gas fueled power plants for the tech company Meta, which needs the electricity for a massive data center it’s building in Northeast Louisiana. 

The Louisiana Public Service Commission voted 4-1 to approve the unprecedented project from Entergy Louisiana to supply a massive amount of power for a single customer.

The commission was originally expected to vote on Entergy’s plan in October, coinciding with a deadline it set for its administrative law judge to settle any disputes involving businesses and groups opposed to the power generation project. The judge would then issue a recommendation to the commissioners about whether Entergy could move forward. 

Instead, Entergy, Meta and parties previously against the project told regulators last month they had reached an agreement with Entergy ahead of the deadline, allowing a vote to take place on the power plant. Entergy then filed a request to immediately place the matter on this month’s Public Service Commission meeting, held at the Carl F. Grant Civic Center in Plaquemine, rather than wait on the judge’s recommendation. 

This shortcut around the normal project approval process drew concerns from the public and ratepayer advocacy groups, who spoke for hours in opposition to Entergy’s plan. 

Commissioner Davante Lewis, D-Baton Rouge, cast the lone dissenting vote, saying an agreement Meta and Entergy struck with other stakeholders before the vote felt rushed with too many questions still left unanswered. 

“There’s a lot of things I just can’t verify at the moment,” said Lewis, who has previously voiced support for the Meta data center. Testimony at Wednesday’s meeting is what swayed his vote, he said.

Proponents have said Meta’s data center will bring up to 500 permanent jobs to the rural, low-income communities of Northeast Louisiana. Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, D-Bossier, said the area needs economic investment more than any other part of the state.

“There’s nothing that is bulletproof,” Campbell said. “This is something I’m willing to take a chance on. I think it will pay dividends.”

Meta has 20 other data centers around the world, and its Richland Parish location would be the largest. The new power plant complex is being built specifically for the data center, though it will be connected to the larger electric grid and could supply power to other customers.

The three turbines dedicated to the Meta facility will have the capacity to generate 2,200 megawatts of electricity. They will increase Entergy’s statewide generation capacity roughly 20%, as the data center’s power needs will be more than twice what the entire city of New Orleans uses on a hot summer day, according to the Alliance for Affordable Energy. The ratepayer advocacy group wanted the Public Service Commission to delay its vote until October.

Several citizens who spoke at the meeting pointed out the lack of information surrounding the purported economic benefits and voiced skepticism that Meta will hire locals residents to fill the high-paying technical positions in artificial intelligence data mining .  

Miriam Abuzied of Lake Charles asked commissioners why they were “pushing through” a vote without assurances that the jobs will go to people living in and around Richland Parish. 

Entergy power plant for Meta data center moves toward early regulatory approval

Neither Meta nor its data center affiliate, Laidley, have been directly involved in any of the proceedings before the Public Service Commission. Meta has not guaranteed whether any of the 500 jobs it’s pledged will be permanent, labeling them “operational.”

John Christopher Brown, a biologist and retired environmental analyst for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the use of three large, natural gas-powered turbines will exacerbate the effects of climate change. Putting more greenhouse gases in the air will worsen Louisiana’s coastal erosion, he said. 

“I know some of you don’t believe in climate change, but the good thing about science is it’s true whether you believe it or not,” Brown said.

Entergy’s proposal has the full support of the Public Service Commission’s contracted consultants, who studied it for 10 months. One of them, Lane Sisung, said Meta is covering 100% of the cost of all three turbines. 

However, Logan Burke and Susan Miller, executive director and counsel for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, respectively, said the commission might not have authority to enforce the contract Entergy struck with Meta that details those costs. 

According to documents filed with state regulators, Entergy claimed it has the right to change its energy services contract with Meta at any time in the future without permission from the Public Service Commission. They are still required to notify the commission of any changes. 

“So we are all expected to one, hope that mutual agreement stands up and doesn’t change, and two, if it does that the commission is able and willing to force Entergy to eat the losses,” Burke said later via text message to a reporter. “Historically the commission has not done that.” 

Another concern is that Entergy’s contract with Meta is for 15 years, which is roughly half the average lifespan of a natural gas turbine. Critics have argued that ratepayers could have to cover any remaining costs for the power plants if they are no longer efficient and Meta abandons the data center after the first 15 years.

“I do believe that’s a possibility; I don’t believe it’s a likelihood,” Sisung said. 

When Commissioner Jean Paul Coussan, R-Lafayette, asked if there was any benefit in delaying the vote another month, Sisung said he knew of none. 

Entergy Louisiana’s CEO Phillip May touted the commission’s decision in a news release.

“These investments will help power one of the most advanced data centers in the world and will also reinforce our grid, create economic opportunity and support a more sustainable energy future across Louisiana,” May said. “Importantly, Meta is paying its share of the costs for the infrastructure needed to support its operations, ensuring that other customers are protected from those expenses.”

Entergy plans to build two of the turbines near the data center in Richland Parish. They are expected to come online in late 2028. The third power plant will be built at the utility’s existing Waterford nuclear power plant site in St. Charles Parish, with an expected operational date by the end of 2029, the news release said.

Entergy has already broken ground on a key substation to support the data center and has committed to working with Meta to build a solar power installation with 1,500 MW of capacity.