Louisiana

Rural Louisiana parish leaders have contacted state economic development officials requesting data centers after Richland Parish teachers received $50,000 year-end checks funded by surging sales tax collections from Meta's data center construction in the area. The sales tax distributions to the school district increased dramatically as thousands of workers arrived to build the facility, with collections climbing 60-70% and peaking at roughly 260%.

The Center Square · Richland Parish, LA · also at The Center Square

Louisiana is competing for a new U.S. Space Force academy following a presidential executive order, with state leaders and regional development groups coordinating the bid to complement SpaceX's planned facility. Louisiana Innovation secured $15 million in total funding to expand labs connecting manufacturers with advanced technologies in energy, aerospace, agribusiness and other sectors. State regulators agreed to expedite review of Cleco Power's plan to supply electricity to Applied Digital's $3.6 billion data center project in Rapides Parish, potentially reaching 430 megawatts by 2028.

Baton Rouge Business Report · Louisiana

Louisiana utility regulators have approved an expedited review of Cleco Power's plan to supply electricity to Applied Digital's $3.6 billion data center in Rapides Parish, bypassing the administrative law judge recommendation stage while still requiring an evidentiary hearing before commissioners decide the application's merits.

The Center Square · Rapides Parish, LA · also at New Orleans CityBusiness, KTBS 3

Democratic Senate candidate Jamie Davis argues that Republican Congresswoman Julia Letlow's refusal to debate him stems from her inability to discuss a nondisclosure agreement she signed regarding a Meta data center project in Richland Parish. Letlow signed the NDA while subsequently purchasing stock in Meta and Nvidia, disclosures she made more than a year late, and dozens of Louisiana elected officials have signed similar NDAs tied to major industrial projects.

Louisiana Illuminator · Richland Parish, LA

lsureveille.com · Louisiana

American Press · Louisiana

Grow NELA launched an interactive dashboard that tracks Northeast Louisiana's economic growth through parish-by-parish sales tax collection data. Nine of 10 parishes showed increased sales tax revenue in Q1 2026 compared to the previous year, with Richland Parish experiencing dramatic growth tied to Meta's Hyperion data center construction.

Technical.ly · Louisiana

Louisiana has attracted major corporate projects including Meta's $50 billion data center, Hyundai's steel mill, and SpaceX's $100 billion rocket-launch complex since Governor Landry took office. National site selectors say the announcements signal Louisiana's ability to execute large, complex projects quickly across multiple sectors, though questions remain about workforce availability and whether the state can sustain reputation gains.

NOLA.com · Richland Parish, LA

Protesters with the activist group "Humans First" stopped in Boyce on September 12 as part of a 34-stop national bus tour opposing data center expansion, demanding stronger regulations, taxpayer inclusion in negotiations, and accountability from tech companies and lawmakers.

KALB | News Channel 5 · Rapides Parish, LA

Headline onlyfox10tv.com · Rapides Parish, LA

A northeastern Louisiana rental property owner who operates 18 homes says construction workers from Meta's new AI data center comprise most of her tenants, with fully-furnished homes near the site renting for around $3,000 monthly compared to $1,200-$1,500 before the facility's announcement.

Business Insider · Richland Parish, LA

AI data centers have become increasingly controversial during the 2024 election cycle, with public opinion shifting against them despite initial enthusiasm from some political leaders. A recent poll found 51% of Americans view new data center construction as bad for the country, citing concerns about rising electricity bills and declining home values, prompting governors across both parties to impose restrictions and demand tighter regulations.

NOLA.com · Richland Parish, LA

Major technology companies including Meta, Amazon, and Hut8 are developing AI data centers across Louisiana parishes, leveraging the state's natural gas resources for energy. The state is expanding broadband access through the federal BEAD program, targeting statewide high-speed internet coverage by 2028 to serve approximately 1.7 million currently unserved residents.

Pelican Institute · Louisiana

A Missouri-based company plans to build a data center near Moss Bluff, about eight miles north of Lake Charles, but residents oppose the project. A local representative says residents chose Moss Bluff as a bedroom community and want to preserve its residential character without commercial or industrial development.

louisianaradionetwork.com · Louisiana

Entergy is building transmission lines and a substation to supply power to Meta's data center in northern Louisiana, but some landowners, including the Perry family, are fighting the utility's use of eminent domain to acquire their property. Most affected landowners settled with Entergy, but several dozen property owners across multiple tracts are pursuing legal action to block the expropriation.

NOLA.com · Ouachita Parish, LA

Headline onlyRTO Insider · Louisiana

Azimuth Renewables is exploring a data center development north of Moss Bluff on over 1,100 acres, but the company has not submitted applications for the zoning variance or rezoning required. Calcasieu Parish currently lacks ordinances defining data centers, and no timeline exists for bringing proposed ordinances to the parish boards for adoption.

KPLC 7 News · Louisiana

Former EPA officials warn that data center expansion to support artificial intelligence could impose $11.7 billion to $20.9 billion in annual public-health costs by 2028, including roughly 600,000 asthma cases and 1,300 premature deaths, citing a 2026 academic study. The Environmental Protection Network's report contends the EPA is weakening pollution safeguards and limiting public participation in permitting decisions as data centers proliferate.

Louisiana Illuminator · Louisiana

Entergy Louisiana agreed to ease confidentiality restrictions allowing representatives from the Alliance for Affordable Energy and Union of Concerned Scientists limited access to sensitive evidence in the utility's multibillion-dollar power expansion case related to Meta's Richland Parish data center. The agreement does not provide access to underlying Meta records the groups sought through an unsuccessful subpoena last month.

The Center Square · Richland Parish, LA · also at New Orleans CityBusiness

NOLA.com · Louisiana

The Pelican Institute has engaged Louisiana regulators on two proceedings: a rulemaking on privately financed electrical networks to serve large industrial customers, and a proposed rule requiring disclosure of funding sources for groups intervening in Public Service Commission proceedings. Pelican argued that private electrical networks allow Louisiana to attract major investment without exposing ratepayers to risk, while urging narrower donor-disclosure requirements focused on foreign adversaries rather than all out-of-state funding.

Pelican Institute · Louisiana

blackchronicle.com · Caddo Parish, LA · also at thecentersquare.com

Louisiana has attracted over $81.6 billion in data center investments and projected 2,000-plus permanent jobs while offering long-term tax exemptions, but the state has not publicly disclosed how much tax revenue will be forgone. States tracking similar exemptions show the facilities generate substantial tax activity during construction but often fail to offset the incentive costs.

Biz New Orleans · Louisiana

A Caddo Parish zoning official suggested alternatives to restrict data centers through ordinances and nuisance laws rather than zoning, citing that a master plan needed for expanded zoning authority would take years while data centers are already arriving.

The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate · Caddo Parish, LA

Google backstopped $3.2 billion in lease obligations for TeraWulf's AI data center campus in New York, acquiring a 14% stake while keeping the debt off its own books. The arrangement mirrors Meta's $27 billion Blue Owl-financed data center campus in Louisiana, part of a broader pattern moving over $1.6 trillion in AI infrastructure debt into financial footnotes rather than balance sheets.

Startup Fortune · Louisiana

Holy Tacos, opened in Rayville, Louisiana in April 2025, attributes approximately 40% of its monthly business to Meta's nearby AI data center construction, including catering orders to man camps that range from $4,000 to $7,000. The restaurant's owners say the data center has revitalized the declining community, though construction has brought dust and noise to nearby Holly Ridge.

Business Insider · Richland Parish, LA

Louisiana Delta Community College is training residents for entry-level data center jobs at Meta's Richland Parish facility through two four-week programs that cost $3,698 each. More than 100 students have graduated since January, with all finding employment; entry-level fiber technicians earn $18-$24 hourly.

WWNO · Richland Parish, LA

A Louisiana company linked to real estate firm Trammell Crow purchased nearly 1,000 acres at Lewis & Clark Ranch in West Richland for $263.7 million in July, potentially setting the stage for the region's first data center complex, though the city has not yet received a development application.

Tri-City Herald · Caddo Parish, LA

One Nuclear Energy executed a binding letter of intent to develop Project Cayman, a 2.88-GW gas-fired power plant and 700-MW battery storage system alongside a data center complex in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, near the RiverPlex MegaPark industrial site.

POWER Magazine · Louisiana

Meta's $50 billion data center project in Richland Parish has dramatically changed life for police jurors and local officials, who now field constant inquiries about housing, investment opportunities, and infrastructure while managing increased traffic and learning to allocate new tax revenue for parish improvements.

American Press · Richland Parish, LA