Louisiana's $3B Power Upgrade for Meta Project Raises Questions About Who Should Foot the Bill
TD Cowen said OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta are driving a 12.5GW leasing pipeline as prices rise 25% from the second quarter to the third.
- Meta Platforms and Microsoft led a record 9.6GW data center leasing surge in Q2 2026, as OpenAI increased its spending plans to $750 billion through 2030.
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith secured a $13 billion Meta investment on July 8, 2026, while Louisiana faces regulatory friction over transparency and potential ratepayer costs for massive infrastructure projects.
- Vertiv reported a $15 billion backlog with 252% organic order growth, while Equinix logged record annualized gross bookings of $474 million, with 60% of its largest deals AI-driven.
- Chief Administrative Law Judge Melanie Verzwyvelt issued a subpoena this month for Meta to submit documents on electricity needs and job creation, as consumer advocates demand greater transparency regarding infrastructure costs.
- Industry analysts project a record 12.5GW leasing pipeline, though Morgan Stanley warns memory shortages will intensify through 2027 and 2028, potentially constraining the hyperscaler expansion.
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Entergy says Meta will save ratepayers billions. Here’s how - Regional Media News
(The Center Square) - Data centers are expected to consume extraordinary amounts of electricity in Louisiana, forcing utilities to build new power plants, transmission lines and other infrastructure. Entergy Louisiana says that growth will not simply create new costs. The utility argues its agreements with large data center customers could ultimately save existing ratepayers about $2 billion over 20 years, but consumer advocates argue those savi…
Louisiana Governor: AI Race With China Is America’s Next Great Challenge
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry discusses the state’s role in America’s artificial intelligence race, economic growth, and energy future. During the event, Gov. Landry highlights Meta’s historic partnership in Richland Parish, investments in infrastructure, workforce development, and efforts to protect Louisiana ratepayers while expanding AI capabilities. Join this channel to get access to OAN Live &...
As data centers proliferate, Louisiana is rethinking how to tax them
Louisiana is considering its first statewide property valuation standards for data centers as billions of dollars in technology investment flow into the state, The Center Square reports. The proposal, commissioned by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, would establish uniform guidelines for valuing servers, storage systems, networking equipment and the electrical and cooling infrastructure that supports them, providing greater c…
Louisiana's $3B power upgrade for Meta project raises questions about who should foot the bill
In a rural corner of Louisiana, Meta is building one of the world’s largest data centers, a $10 billion behemoth as big as 70 football fields that will consume more power in a day than the entire city of New Orleans at the peak of summer.
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