By Nolan Mckendry | The Center Square
(The Center Square) — Entergy Louisiana CEO Phillip May accidentally disclosed Tuesday that Meta’s Richland Parish data center is expected to draw 4,500 megawatts of electricity, revealing for the first time a closely guarded figure that shows the extraordinary scale of the project’s power demand.
For perspective, 4,500 MW is about four times the peak electricity demand of the entire city of New Orleans.
May realized immediately what he had done. “I won’t make you say it again,” an attorney for the Union of Concerned Scientists responded.
The number is significant because Meta and Entergy have treated the data center’s projected electrical demand as confidential, arguing that details about the facility’s power needs constitute commercially sensitive information.
And according to May, Meta expects to use close to that amount almost continuously.
The exchange came as May defended billions of dollars in new generation and transmission infrastructure Entergy plans to build largely to serve Meta’s Richland Parish data center.
Attorneys for the Union of Concerned Scientists, Alliance for Affordable Energy and Louisiana Energy Users Group pressed May on whether Entergy has adequately examined the financial risks of making such enormous investments around a single customer — and whether other ratepayers could eventually be left paying for them.
Entergy argues its agreement with Meta is structured to prevent that.
May testified that Meta’s payments are designed to exceed the actual revenue requirements associated with infrastructure needed to serve the company. If Entergy’s costs rise, Meta pays more; if they fall, Meta pays less, he said.
“No other customer in our 100-year history has ever committed to such a generous package of benefits for our customers, along with protections that ensure that our customers get those benefits,” May said of Meta.