Meta
Meta Hyperion data center, Franklin Farm megasite near Holly Ridge
pilot, signed, approved 2025-08-20
Operator: Meta
Developer: Laidley LLC (Meta subsidiary; since October 2025 owned by Beignet Investor LLC, a Blue Owl and Meta joint venture in which Blue Owl holds 80 percent and Meta 20 percent)
Scale: 2,000 MW · 2,250 acres · 4,000,000 sq ft · 10,000,000,000 USD
Figures as announced in December 2024. The governor's announcement states 2,250 acres, 4 million square feet and $10 billion; it does not state a megawatt figure, and the 2 GW number comes from trade press coverage of the same announcement. The project was expanded to $27 billion in October 2025 and to more than $50 billion, about 5 GW, and 3,200-plus acres in July 2026. Entergy's certified generation for the site totals 2,262 MW across three combined cycle plants, two in Richland Parish and one at Killona.
Verification: read from the signed document
A strong version: A fund that scales with the project, with a community seat on the body that spends it
Not addressed in the agreement.
No community fund under parish control. Meta-directed giving includes more than $1 million in community grants through its Future is for Everyone Fund, $300,000 to the Richland Revitalization Board, $5 million to Louisiana Delta Community College, and full scholarships for graduates of Richland Parish's high schools beginning with the class of 2026. At the August 2025 session Entergy committed $1 million a year to its Power to Care bill-assistance program over the 15-year term, matched by Meta, about $30 million in total. A March 2026 agreement expanded this to $120 million for Power to Care including matching funds, $140 million for energy efficiency for vulnerable customers, and $2 billion in projected customer savings over 20 years.
A strong version: Incentives come back if the facility stops operating, not only if a jobs number is missed
triggers: jobs, investment
Under the state ground lease the base purchase price for the site rises if the project fails to meet the capital and employment goals, and the state may redeem ownership if the lessee falls below 75 percent of both the capital requirement and the employment requirement by December 3, 2028. PILOT payments step through four levels tied to investment and jobs. On the utility side an early-termination fee is backed by a Meta Platforms parent guaranty; after the October 2025 ownership change advocates argue the guaranty no longer reaches an entity with assets, because Laidley's new parent Beignet has not signed one and holds no assets beyond the data center. No trigger is tied simply to the facility ceasing operation.
A strong version: A bond, escrow, or letter of credit that pays for teardown and site restoration if the operator walks
Not addressed in the agreement.
instrument: none
No bond, escrow, or letter of credit. The only fallback is the state's right to redeem the leased land if investment and jobs fall short.
A strong version: The operator pays for its own interconnection and carries a minimum bill that survives it leaving
interconnect paid by: shared · minimum bill: yes · term: 15 yrs · governed by: Louisiana Public Service Commission Order U-37425 (August 20, 2025), approved 4 to 1
Meta pays directly, through contributions in aid of construction, for interim transmission, the customer-paid substations including six customer substations, the point-of-delivery lines, and the Smalling to Car Gas 500 kV line, and the order books those at a zero plant-in-service balance so they carry no rate base. The three new combined cycle plants (2,262 MW) go into all customers' rates through Entergy's formula rate plan, and Staff told the commission Meta's minimum monthly charges are sized to cover 100 percent of their cost including overruns over the 15-year initial ESA term. Intervenor testimony puts the generators' depreciable life at 30 years, twice that term. The Mount Olive to Sarepta 500 kV line and the Sterlington upgrades are recovered from all ratepayers after a prudence review; Entergy listed that line at approximately $358 million as of March 2026. Collateral is a Meta Platforms parent guaranty plus credit insurance.
A strong version: A stated cap or closed-loop cooling, plus public reporting
Not addressed in the agreement.
reporting: no · cooling: closed loop
No enforceable cap. The state registered six wells for the site at a combined rate of about 23 million gallons a day; Meta projects 500 to 600 million gallons a year once running. Meta has agreed to voluntarily submit annual water-use reports to the state for its first five years of operation; no state body monitors usage or aquifer condition. Cooling is a closed-loop glycol system that Meta says needs no water for a majority of the year. Two of the Entergy plants will draw water from Delhi.
Softening languageAnnual water-use reporting is voluntary, offered for the first five years, and no state body monitors usage or aquifer condition.
A strong version: A numeric limit measured at the nearest residence or property line
A strong version: Binding job commitments with a consequence, not projections
permanent: 500 · construction: 7500 · local hire: no · enforceable: yes
The state lease and PILOT step up required full-time jobs alongside capital: at least 100 by December 31, 2028 with $5 billion invested, then 300, then $8 billion and 450, then $9.5 billion and 475, then $10 billion and 500 by December 31, 2032. The Advocate's account of the middle steps carries inconsistent year labels, so only the first and last rungs are firm. The PILOT requires an average wage of at least 150 percent of the statewide annual average, which against the Louisiana Workforce Commission's $58,614.92 is roughly $88,000; the separate $82,000 figure is the average salary stated in Entergy's application and repeated in the LPSC order. Missing the targets raises the purchase price or lets the state redeem the land, so the numbers are binding. Meta now claims 1,000 operational and 7,500-plus peak construction jobs. Actual job counts became confidential after the commission voted in August 2026 to quash subpoenas seeking them.
A strong version: Local subcontracting goals and haul-route road repair paid by the operator
local subcontracting: no
No local-contracting requirement. Meta claims more than $1.6 billion in contracts to Louisiana businesses and an infrastructure pledge that grew from more than $200 million at the December 2024 announcement to more than $1 billion, including Delhi utility upgrades and a new industrial wastewater plant. Meta balked at the standard 1 percent of construction cost and paid the parish a flat $10 million permit fee instead of about $100 million. Pledges are not contract terms and are not counted here.
A strong version: No NDA, the agreement is public, and an independent audit on a schedule
NDA: yes · agreement public: no · dashboard: no · audit: annual · independent: no
The governor personally signed a mutual nondisclosure agreement with Laidley LLC on April 23, 2024, and records obtained from Louisiana Economic Development show at least 50 public officials signed NDAs since he took office. The electric service agreement, contributions in aid of construction, and parent guaranty were filed under seal, and the settlement itself is posted only as a public redacted version. The lease and PILOT were obtained by reporters through records requests, not posted. Entergy files quarterly monitoring reports to Commission Staff in the form of Attachment 1; annual reporting of customer usage, demand and billing is confidential under the order. On August 12, 2026 the commission voted 3 to 1 to quash subpoenas that would have required Meta to substantiate its job, economic, and load claims. Reporters later found that Entergy's vice president for regulatory and public affairs drafted a commission motion supporting the project.
A strong version: A but-for test before any abatement, with the forgone revenue stated
abatement: 70% · years: 30 · PILOT: yes · forgone: $3,300,000,000
A 30-year PILOT under which Meta pays 20 to 40 percent of what ad valorem taxes would otherwise be, depending on investment and job levels, pegging at 20 percent once PILOT Level 4 of $10 billion invested and 500 jobs is reached. Paying 20 to 40 percent means abating 60 to 80 percent, so 70 is the midpoint of the abatement range; the long-run rate at full performance is 80 percent. Payments split 53 percent to the school board, 35 percent to the police jury, 12 percent to the parish law enforcement district. The PILOT also collects 1 percent on construction materials, furniture and fixtures. Separately, Louisiana exempts the site's data center equipment, including GPUs, from state and local sales and use tax for 20 years; Sherwood News estimated the break on GPU purchases alone at more than $3.3 billion, which a Good Jobs First analyst called conservative, and that is the forgone figure used here. State lease rent is $732,000 a year for the 30-year primary term, dropping to $120 a year in a 69-year renewal term with a $12 million purchase option. The parish sales and use tax office received a single sales tax payment of $22,406,676.75; the PILOT itself starts at the initial certificate of occupancy and had not begun.
Advocates argue the parent guaranty no longer reaches an entity with assets after ownership moved to a Blue Owl joint venture, and that ratepayers carry the stranded-cost risk when the 15-year term ends on generators with a 30-year depreciable life. source
The dissenting commissioner said there was a lot he could not verify; the commission later killed subpoenas that would have tested the job and load claims. source
Researchers warn maximum pumping could affect shallow domestic wells; residents have reported discolored tap water and LSU researchers are analyzing community air and water samples. source