"Huge Gas Plant Eyed To Power Mystery $5B Louisiana Data Center"

"Entergy proposes a new $3.2 billion natural gas plant to run a ‘game changing’ data center in northeast Louisiana; critics question the move"

"In rural northeast Louisiana, known for its rice, sweet potato farms and poverty, an as-yet-to-be-named company has agreed to build a new data center with an investment of at least $5 billion. The development is being called a “godsend” and a “game changer” for the region, where one in five people lives in poverty.

Next to the site, off Interstate 20 in Holly Ridge, electric utility Entergy plans to build a 1,500-megawatt natural gas plant to power the data center. 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. Entergy would spend $3.2 billion on the plant, a related 754-MW gas plant to be built in South Louisiana and transmission lines.

Over the last several months, concern has arisen that the construction of fossil-fueled power plants to provide power to the proliferation of U.S. data centers will slow progress on the nation’s climate change goals."

Pam Radtke reports for Floodlight November 15, 2024.

Source: Floodlight, 11/21/2024