Plans For Meta To Build A Large AI Data Center Near A Louisiana Farming Community Approved, But Concerns Loom
Plans for Meta to build an AI data center in rural Louisiana have been approved, People reports.
The 4-million-square-foot facility will be located in Richland Parish, a farming community of 20,000 people. According to The Wired, Louisiana’s Public Service Commission approved project plans in a meeting held on Aug. 20 for three natural gas turbines from Entergy to power the data center, which will require over 2 gigawatts. The vote was 4-1.
Residents in the community are concerned about the decision, which they say seemed rushed, citing an increase in energy bills and water shortages. The Wired states Meta will finance the first 15 years of a 30-year loan for the gas plants’ construction, while residents will bear the cost of a $550 million transmission line.
“Meta is directly paying for the infrastructure required to interconnect and serve them, which protects other customers from paying that cost,” Entergy told People.
“Meta’s electric payments to Entergy will lower what customers pay for resilience upgrades by approximately 10%,” Entergy continued, stating this would also reduce storm charges for customers after the facility is in operation.
“Meta coming to Louisiana means customer bills will be lower than they otherwise would have been,” Entergy said.
Furthermore, Meta states that the project will lead to a $10 billion investment in the community — including $200 million in local infrastructure improvements by 2029, such as roads and water systems — and will contribute to 300 to 500 good-paying jobs. Entergy even cited Richland Parish’s income levels as one of the reasons for the project plans to move forward, as a quarter of residents are below the poverty line.
“There has never been a better time to lift our residents out of poverty. There has never been a better time to give people in our region better jobs,” said Grow NELA CEO Rob Cleveland, who testified in support of Entergy’s gas plants, according to The Wired.
Documents also note that the tax incentive agreement with Meta defines full-time jobs as multiple part-time jobs adding up to a 40-hour workweek. The average pay across jobs must be $82,000 a year and must provide health insurance.
“I want local businesses to be thriving, but if the average data center permanent jobs are 12 to 15, and y’all saying it’s going to be 500, do y’all have a promise that they’re going to be local jobs?” Louisiana resident Angelle Bradford Rosenberd said during the Aug. 20 meeting, per The Wired. She was also concerned about water usage and the impact on farmers. “…Do we actually know that they’re hiring people from Monroe, Rayville, Delhi, Holly Ridge, or are they just saying 500 jobs and they’re bringing in these folks from other places?”
Kevin Litten, a spokesperson for the state’s economic development authority, told the outlet that Meta “is expected to create 500 direct new jobs at the facility, which in economic development terms means permanent, full-time jobs.”
Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton said, “We make a concerted effort to source labor locally and provide substantial contributions directly to the community.” Clayton further added that Meta is “working on hiring local talent,” and it will hire “technical operators, electricians, air-conditioning and heating specialists, logistics staff, security, and more.”
