Meta is committing more than $50 billion to its Richland Parish Data Center project in Northeast Louisiana, expanding the campus to nearly 10 million square feet and 5 gigawatts of IT capacity. The site is home to Hyperion, Meta's largest AI training cluster, and will become the largest facility in Meta's global data center fleet.
Jobs and local contracts
The expanded project is expected to support 7,500 construction jobs at peak building and about 1,000 operational jobs once running. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will generate an additional 1,900 indirect jobs, for more than 2,700 new job opportunities across the Northeast region. Meta's vice president of data centers, Rachel Peterson, said the company has already contracted more than $1.6 billion with Louisiana companies. Meta has designated Source Louisiana, a free platform launched last year, as its primary portal for subcontracting on the project. Louisiana was also picked as one of four pilot locations for Meta's America's Workforce Academy, with training partnerships including Louisiana Delta Community College and the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Since 2024, Louisiana has secured more than $150 billion in total investment, according to Governor Jeff Landry, who said the state has built an environment where companies can move quickly and build at scale.
New gas, battery and nuclear capacity
To supply the expanded campus, Meta and power company Entergy Louisiana are expanding an existing agreement to fund seven new natural gas-fueled generating plants and three grid-scale batteries. The deal also covers potential nuclear development, including a project to raise output at Entergy Louisiana's Waterford 3 nuclear plant, along with other purchased power. Entergy Louisiana expects the arrangement to deliver more than $2 billion in savings for its customers over the life of the deal, up from the $650 million in savings previously announced. Meta is also committing to fund up to 2.5 gigawatts of clean, renewable energy and is contributing $215 million to Entergy's The Power to Care bill assistance program and residential efficiency programs over the term of the agreement. The arrangement follows Entergy's Fair Share Plus pledge, under which large customers cover their full cost of service. Entergy Louisiana president and CEO Phillip May said Meta paying the full cost of infrastructure for its data center protects other customers from rate increases tied to the project.
Community spending
Since the project was first announced in December 2024, Meta has put more than $1 million directly into Richland Parish, including $300,000 to the Richland Revitalization Board for parks, ballfields and community centers such as the Delhi Civic Center, the Mangham Recreational Complex, the Cave Theater in Delhi and the Rayville Civic Center. Meta has also given grants to every school in the district through its Data Center Community Action Grants program and said it is paying tens of millions of dollars a year in taxes that support local schools, roads, law enforcement and public services.
