Entergy Louisiana’s March 27 announcement of a dramatically expanded power agreement with Meta for the Hyperion data-center campus in Richland Parish marks one of the largest single commitments of private capital in Louisiana history. What began as a $10 billion project in December 2024 has ballooned to roughly $27 billion. Meta is adding 1,400 acres and positioning Hyperion as its largest global facility. The deal calls for up to 5 GW of compute capacity — enough electricity to power more than five million homes — and includes a dedicated build-out of 10 natural-gas-fired combined-cycle plants totaling approximately 7.5 GW. It also adds 2,500 MW of new solar and wind resources, battery storage, nuclear uprates, and 240 miles of new 500-kV transmission lines.
On paper, the structure looks encouraging. Entergy’s filing in Docket U-37882 outlines a 20-year electric service agreement (ESA) under which Meta would fund 100 percent of the incremental generation, transmission, and interconnection costs. The filing states that other customers will see “no billing impact during the term of the ESA.” If that holds true, this could prove far better than the initial agreement the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) approved last year. Still, important details remain undisclosed, and as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.
There is good reason to be optimistic about the unprecedented wave of economic development unfolding across Louisiana. From Amazon’s plans for a next-generation facility in northwest Louisiana, to Hut 8’s River Bend data center campus in southeast Louisiana, to Hyundai’s first U.S. steel facility in Ascension Parish, and now Meta’s expanded footprint in the northeast, these projects are big wins worth celebrating. Together, they represent more than $39 billion in private investment, thousands of high-wage jobs, and a genuine opportunity to spread fixed grid costs over a larger customer base. That could help lower per-unit rates for families and small businesses over the long term while reinforcing Louisiana’s position as a top-tier destination for energy infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.
Louisiana is fortunate to be positioned as a national leader in this critical sector. These massive data center projects form the backbone of the internet, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Building them here at home, with Louisiana workers and engineers leading the way, allows our state to capture the full economic benefits of innovation, strengthen American energy and national security, and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains. When done correctly, these investments create high-wage opportunities across many professions, spread infrastructure costs across a broader base, and deliver long-term prosperity for Louisiana families and communities.
However, as President Donald Trump made clear in the Ratepayer Protection Proclamation he issued last month, “as data centers expand their footprint and electricity demand associated with AI increases, American households must be protected against increasing energy costs. The hyperscalers and AI companies that increase electricity demand must pay for the full cost of the energy and infrastructure needed to build and operate data centers, and must not pass this cost on to the American people. Instead, the data center boom should be leveraged to address affordability and benefit all American households and businesses.”
These core principles are further defined in the president’s official Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which has been signed by all seven major tech hyperscalers, including Amazon, xAI, Oracle, Microsoft, Meta, Google, and OpenAI. Simply put, these companies have committed to covering 100 percent of their own energy costs so that American AI dominance and the prosperity of American families can advance together.
The only question left now is whether or not the specifics of the proposed power deals announced so far actually deliver on that pledge.
Our state leaders and regulators have a duty to ensure they do. Once the full details become public, assessing whether these proposals meet the standards of the president’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge should be straightforward:
- Is the company paying 100 percent of new power generation costs?
- Is the company paying 100 percent of the cost for new transmission infrastructure and grid upgrades?
- Does the proposed deal include a separate, dedicated rate structure paid by the end user, whether the electricity is fully used or not?
- Does the proposal include voluntary community investments to support local job creation and workforce development?
- Does the proposal include a voluntary commitment from the company to collaborate with grid operators and, when possible, make backup generation resources available to the grid or community during times of scarcity or emergency?
As more details emerge, Pelican will be watching closely, and you should too.
In Louisiana’s regulated monopoly utility system, multi-billion-dollar energy infrastructure projects must include strong consumer protections and safeguards. Without them, Louisiana families could end up footing the bill, and we cannot allow that to happen.
As noted in our recent report, Shock to the System, base rates for most residential customers in Louisiana rose more than 30 percent between 2019 and 2024. From 2024 to 2025, the average retail residential price per kilowatt-hour in Louisiana increased by 14.1 percent, more than double the nationwide average increase of 6.5 percent. Adding to the pressure, Louisiana utilities are currently pursuing major capital expenditure projects totaling more than $8.5 billion, most of which were proposed long before these new economic development announcements. If all proposals and associated rate increases are approved by the LPSC, base rates for electricity could climb another 40 percent by 2030.
That outcome would be unaffordable and unacceptable for most Louisiana families and businesses. It is therefore imperative that state leaders and regulators act now to prevent it. With common-sense, free-market solutions — many of which are outlined in our Power Policy Playbook — Louisiana can continue to attract transformative investments, strengthen our grid, and advance genuine energy abundance in a way that benefits both consumers and the broader economy. Entergy’s new mega-deal is the first major test of whether Louisiana will set and enforce the right standard. The Pelican Institute will continue to monitor every docket, every prudence review, and every cost-allocation decision. Louisiana’s energy moment is too important to get wrong.
