Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and other social media and messaging platforms, plans to spend $10 billion to construct artificial intelligence data centers in Richland Parish, La., state officials announced on Dec. 4. The company picked a team of Turner Construction Co., DPR Construction and M.A. Mortenson Co. to build the northeast Louisiana campus, according to the contractors.
The mile-long facility would occupy 4 million sq ft of former farm land, according to Louisiana Economic Development, and would be the largest yet of Meta’s data centers.
The project team plans to source labor and materials locally. Ben Kaplan, Turner managing director, said in a statement that Meta and the contractors will hold information fairs for interested trade contractors and workers early in 2025.
Site work is starting this month, and the project is expected to complete in 2030.
“Louisiana has been actively positioning itself as a hub for AI innovation, with plans to support startups, grow a skilled workforce and shape forward-thinking policy,” Susan Bourgeois, state department secretary, said in a statement.
Louisiana officials expect Meta will take advantage of a state incentive program that offers tax rebates for data center equipment. The Louisiana Community and Technical College System also has committed funding to Delta Community College, located near the future Meta site, to help it develop programs and expand capacity, including for its construction trades program, to help meet project workforce needs.
Power and Infrastructure
Meta has agreed to contribute more than $200 million for local road and water infrastructure improvements, and electric utility company Entergy Louisiana LLC has applied to the Louisiana Public Service Commission to build a generating plant with three gas-fired turbines with a combined capacity of 2,260 MW, two of which would be located beside the Meta campus in Holly Ridge, La.
The generators would be able to have about 30% hydrogen initial co-firing, and capability to support 100% hydrogen as well as incorporated carbon capture and sequestration in future upgrades, termed as a "transformational investment" by Phillip May, President and CEO of Entergy Louisiana, in a statement.
Entergy’s plan also calls for construction of eight substations and a 500-kV transmission line, plus equipment upgrades at a substation near Sterlington, La.
A company representative could not immediately share details about contracting for the project, but Entergy expects the new generators will come online between 2028 and 2029.
Meta and Entergy are also looking into the possibility of nuclear energy as a future power supply option, according to the utility. That could include small modular reactors or upgrades to expand the output of existing nuclear plants.
