Meta Secures $27 Billion Financing Deal for Largest Louisiana Data Center

Meta Secures $27 Billion Financing and Energy Agreement for Massive Louisiana Facility

Under the terms of the arrangement reported by Engadget, Meta will essentially foot the power bill by funding seven new natural gas power plants, 240 miles of transmission lines operating at 500 kilovolts, and battery energy storage across three locations. The gas facilities will deliver a combined power output of 5,200 megawatts. Additionally, the company will help fund up to 2,500 megawatts of new renewable resources and signed a memorandum of understanding for future nuclear power development.

Regulatory Fast-Tracking and Local Opposition in Richland Parish

To support the massive infrastructure required for the project, Entergy Louisiana submitted an application on March 25 asking the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) to skip key steps of its standard regulatory review process, according to WWNO. Entergy is invoking the commission’s Lightning Initiative—a streamlined regulatory pathway adopted at a December 17 session in response to an executive order from Gov. Jeff Landry to accelerate industrial development.

Entergy’s filing seeks approval for generation and transmission resources tied to a 20-year contract with Evest, LLC, a Meta subsidiary, as detailed by WWNO. The utility wants the Administrative Hearings Division to compile a record without issuing a formal recommendation from an administrative law judge, targeting a final commission vote for November 18. Critics and consumer advocates argue that skipping the recommendation weakens long-standing protections and leaves financial risks on local ratepayers rather than shareholders.

Residents in Richland Parish have also raised alarms regarding transparency. Diane Cobb, a resident of the unincorporated community of Holly Ridge, told Thebrockovichreport that locals only discovered the multi-billion-dollar project when construction crews arrived. Nobody told us anything, Cobb said. They supposedly had a big meeting. The whole community was supposed to come. Nobody knew anything about it. Ever.

Broader Financial and Environmental Pressures

The Louisiana project arrives amid heightened national scrutiny over the enormous debt and energy demands associated with artificial intelligence infrastructure. According to an investigative report by the Nikkei cited by Strata Gee, five major AI tech companies—including Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle—accumulated an estimated $1.65 trillion in off-balance-sheet “hidden debt” over a four-year period through lease agreements and external partnerships. The analysis specifically noted that Meta’s hidden debt rose to $420 billion, which is nearly triple the amount transparently reported on its balance sheet.

Environmental and community impacts have further galvanized public pushback across the country. Data center growth is driving a heavy reliance on fossil fuels, with industry analysts observing that the market has largely converged on adding natural gas generation immediately while deferring nuclear solutions, as reported by Theatlantic. While tech companies have made non-binding pledges to cover the full cost of new generation resources to protect local residents from rising power bills, critics note that these pledges lack enforcement mechanisms, leaving communities to navigate rapidly expanding industrial footprints and climbing utility costs.