"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. [2]