Louisiana Planning Massive ‘Mystery’ Data Center

A massive data center planned for northeast Louisiana is drawing concern from residents and critics who say the project will create carbon emissions from a proposed 1,500-megawatt natural gas plant owned by Entergy that would be built to power the center. “Data centers are forecast to account for up to 12% of all U.S. electricity demand by 2030, according to consulting firm McKinsey and Co., citing “skyrocketing compute and data demands.” Today that amount is 3% to 4%, McKinsey said.”

As Pam Radtke explains in an article for Floodlight, “The data center, the power plant, or possibly both, will be built on a 1,400-acre site, called Franklin Farms, owned by the state, according to filings with the Louisiana Public Service Commission.” 

The company that would own the data center is yet to be named, Radtke adds. “Details about the data center are cloaked in secrecy and non-disclosure agreements. But Entergy Louisiana has filed hundreds of pages of redacted documents with state regulators about its dealings with the unnamed company. In its filings, Entergy says the data center will employ 300 to 500 people with an average salary of $82,000.”

To offset its emissions, the unnamed company is “expected to make a substantial contribution” toward an Entergy carbon capture and storage project. But there are concerns beyond the environmental aspects. According to Radtke, “Costs not paid by the data center, either through electricity rates or separate agreements, would be spread across Entergy’s 1.1 million Louisiana customers, although the utility says the proposed deal ‘largely insulates (Entergy’s) other customers from paying for the upgrades required’ for the data center.”