Meta Platforms is dramatically expanding its Hyperion data center campus in Richland Parish, both in size and monetary investment, growing an already massive artificial intelligence infrastructure project into what state officials are calling one of the largest computing facilities in the world.
Gov. Jeff Landry announced the expansion at a press conference Monday (July 13), where he and Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois laid out new figures for a project that has ballooned well beyond its original scope.
“The same state, this very state that is now powering America and the globe with natural gas, LNG exports, manufacturing, petrochemicals, is now going to lead America's AI future,” Landry said.
Meta is putting an additional $40 billion into the project — a fivefold jump from the $10 billion the company committed when it broke ground in December 2024, bringing its total investment in the Richland Parish site to $50 billion. The new money will fund the expanded data center itself, along with the power infrastructure needed to run it.
The physical footprint is also expanding, with the new vision for the campus to stretch across more than 3,200 acres eventually — more than four times the size of New York City’s Central Park — of what was previously farmland in the rural, sparsely populated parish, and its computing capacity will reach 5 gigawatts once both phases are complete.
Construction employment tied to the project is expected to climb to around 7,500 workers due to the changes, roughly 50% higher than initial estimates, while permanent jobs at the completed facility are projected to double to about 1,000.
The expansion builds on a project that has already drawn sustained scrutiny in the rural parish. Since construction began in late 2024, nearby Holly Ridge has seen vehicle crashes surge more than 600% along the roads leading to the site, prompting the closure of the elementary school's playground.
Landry framed the expansion as validation of an economic development strategy he has pursued aggressively since taking office — using practices that have drawn scrutiny, including fast-tracking projects, executive orders and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs).
“The foundation for what will absolutely become Louisiana's pivotable moment in time began with Meta,” Landry said.
Much of the public conversation around massive data centers nationally has centered on their strain on local electric grids and water supplies, and Louisiana officials sought to get ahead of those concerns Monday.
Landry said Meta's buildout differs from data centers in other states, where he said inadequate power generation and rising costs have been passed on to ratepayers.
“The base layer for this generation, this electrical generation, is being paid for by Meta,” Landry said.
Entergy Louisiana has separately sought approval from state regulators to build 10 new natural gas plants along with solar and battery storage capacity to serve the site, a request the utility filed with the Public Service Commission months before Monday's announcement, according to Bourgeois.
Landry said the arrangement should ultimately save Entergy customers around $2.6 billion over the next two decades rather than raising their bills, though he cautioned that broader shifts in natural gas prices would still affect rates statewide regardless of the Meta project.
That savings projection has been disputed by at least one member of the body that regulates Entergy. Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis has raised concerns about a related $21.37 billion Entergy filing tied to the Meta buildout, arguing state regulators are moving through an accelerated review process — adopted under Landry's "Lightning Initiative" — too quickly and without the customary safeguards.
Consumer advocates, including the Alliance for Affordable Energy, have separately warned that if Meta were to leave Louisiana before its 20-year power contract ends, the cost of the new gas plants built to serve Hyperion could ultimately fall on ordinary ratepayers rather than the company.
On water usage, Landry argued that improvements in cooling technology have sharply reduced consumption industry-wide, claiming some newer facilities now use less water than agricultural operations in the region.
At the press conference, Landry was also asked whether nuclear power might eventually supply facilities like Hyperion. Landry said he would “love” to put a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) “on a spot in Louisiana tomorrow” if federal regulatory hurdles were eased.
“If you can get the federal government and the bureaucracy out the way,” Landry said, “they can put their first one right here in Louisiana.”
When asked directly about the specific incentive package Meta is receiving, Bourgeois said the arrangement involves two distinct pieces: the sales tax exemption on data center equipment and construction materials is a statutory, statewide incentive already on the books.
The property tax abatement, by contrast, was negotiated separately and directly between Meta and Richland Parish officials through a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement, with no state involvement in setting those terms.
The full terms of the state's dealings with Meta have not been entirely public. A Gulf States Newsroom investigation found that dozens of Louisiana officials involved in large-scale economic development projects, including the original Hyperion deal, have signed NDAs, a practice critics say has limited public accountability around how these incentive packages are negotiated.
When asked about the term sheet — a document that outlines the terms and agreements of a business deal — at the press conference, Landry said he didn’t know what the term sheet looks like.
“And I really don’t care,” Landry said. “Because what Meta is producing is results that have not been produced in this state ever.”
The expansion is already being felt in Richland Parish's schools. Because of the increased tax revenue tied to the data center, teachers there recently received bonuses of up to $50,000, with other school employees receiving supplements as well.
The bonuses may represent a fraction of what the state and parish are giving up. Meta's 100% sales tax exemption covers nearly everything the company would spend for a data center, including construction, computer servers and electrical infrastructure — a pool of spending expected to reach tens of billions of dollars — and the company stands to eventually qualify for an 80% break on its local property taxes as well.
Neither the state nor Richland Parish has released an estimate of how much tax revenue those exemptions will cost over the life of the deal, making it difficult to weigh the bonuses against what the parish and state are forgoing in the years ahead.
Meta has also pledged $1 billion toward upgrading local roads and water and wastewater systems, along with $5 million to Louisiana Delta Community College and workforce training scholarships for graduates of Richland Parish high schools — part of a broader America's Workforce Academy initiative that includes a second training site in Baton Rouge.
Officials said the full build-out, encompassing both phases of the expanded project, is not expected to be complete until 2036.
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.
