The Louisiana Public Service Commission voted to adopt a fast-track schedule for Entergy Louisiana's application to build seven new gas-fired power plants for Meta's Hyperion data center in Richland Parish. These would join three gas plants already approved in August 2025, bringing the total to 10 plants generating approximately 7.5 gigawatts — more than six times the peak electricity demand of New Orleans, or enough to power roughly 5.6 million homes.
The Union of Concerned Scientists released a report finding that high data center growth could increase Louisiana's electricity system costs by $26 billion over 15 years, with up to $90 billion in public health and climate damages from increased fossil fuel pollution. UCS senior energy analyst Paul Arbaje called the fast-track process a way to “evade public scrutiny.” The Commission is considering bypassing a formal recommendation from the administrative law judge and the competitive bidding process designed to ensure lowest-cost resources — two safeguards designed to protect ratepayers from overpaying.