The Louisiana Public Service Commission voted 4-1 to approve Entergy’s controversial plan to power Meta’s largest data center in Richland Parish. Proponents of the project said it will bring economic development to one of Louisiana’s poorest regions.
“ North Louisiana is a poor part of the state. For 50 years, I've been pulling for jobs in North Louisiana and I'm really excited today to see that we're seeing some progress and I think it's really gonna happen,” said Commissioner Foster Campbell, who represents the district where the facility will be built.
The center requires 2.3 GW of energy. To meet that massive need, Entergy Louisiana will build three new gas-fired power plants and new transmission infrastructure. The deal with Meta–the company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp–will fund most of the costs for 15 years, including 100% of power plant expenses, though not the transmission line, but after that ratepayers could see their bills go up.
Larry Hand, vice president of regulatory and public affairs at Entergy Louisiana, said the plan includes a number of protections for customers.
“ It's a 15-year-deal, so we can't predict everything, but the things we have put in there, the staff has put in there, other parties, we believe reasonably mitigate the risk of those things to come at the end of the day,” said Hand. “We believe the net impact on a monthly bill for a customer – it's gonna change over time – but it's gonna be plus or minus a dollar or so.”
He added if Meta does not renew the deal in 2041, the power plants will be used to replace aging ones.
Davante Lewis, the only commissioner to vote against the project, said he can’t say with certainty that this deal serves the public interest.
“I believe there are strong consumer protections that exist in this proposal, that shield our residents and commercial rate payers,” he said. “However, I think any future deal needs to exceed this bar.”
The Southern Renewable Energy Association, the Sierra Club, Walmart and PSC staff were intervenors in the case, but reached an agreement with Entergy before the August meeting. Part of that agreement included more commitments to renewable energy, although they are not legally binding. The groups jointly filed a motion with the utility to move up the vote by two months.
But some intervenors still opposed the plan, including the Alliance for Affordable Energy, Louisiana Energy Users Group and Union of Concerned Scientists.
“ The problem here is that this is going to set precedent. We've heard about it a lot today about how Louisiana will treat these kinds of hyperscale facilities even as regulated states like Ohio and Indiana and Georgia are creating provisions to prohibit the transfer of costs and risks onto other rate payers,” said Logan Burke with the Alliance for Affordable Energy. “in comparison, this settlement puts all of us, all of your constituents and customers in the state, at the mercy of a non-public contract between two corporations.”
Some Louisiana residents who spoke at the meeting questioned whether the state was really getting the best deal and how much it would impact monthly bills.
“Entergy can't keep the lights on on a good day, so I just don't believe that they'll be able to do this,” said Logan Wolf from Thibodaux. “I don't believe they'll still be able to power it when it comes on the grid. I don't believe them when they say that the ratepayers won't pay more. We have seen numerous times that our energy rates go up and we are forced to pay them because they are a government subsidized monopoly.”
They also raised concerns about the climate impacts of building a new fossil fuel-powered plant and how much water the data center would need. A Meta data center in Georgia uses about 500,000 gallons of water a day.
“ We know data centers use millions of gallons of water a day, and I wonder and worry about how we're gonna be compromising either Rayville or Delhi or Holly Ridge's water system and if y'all have had those conversations with local people prior to landing on this settlement or moving forward today,” said Aja Bradford Rosenberg, a resident of Commission District 3.
Others pointed out that Meta has not provided assurance that the jobs created will go to Louisiana residents.
