By Nolan Mckendry | The Center Square
(The Center Square) — Gov. Jeff Landry wants new taxpayer protections for data centers, but the largest projects already under construction will not have to follow them.
Landry’s latest executive order directs Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois to develop criteria for what Landry calls the Louisiana Ratepayer and Community Protection Initiative, a new framework for data centers and other large-load projects that consume major amounts of electricity.
But the new rules may arrive too late for some of Louisiana’s biggest data center projects, which were already certified for the state’s data center tax break before the framework was created.
That means the order could exclude the very projects driving much of the debate over data center energy and water use in Louisiana, including Meta’s massive Richland Parish campus, Amazon’s Caddo-Bossier project, Applied Digital’s facility in Rapides Parish and Hut 8’s project in West Feliciana.
“Those companies have already applied and been granted the exemption,” a Louisiana Economic Development spokeswoman said in a statement. She said the new framework was modeled on agreements those companies reached with the state and their host parishes.
The rules are aimed at making sure companies receiving state incentives do not shift the cost of new power plants, transmission lines, water infrastructure or other upgrades onto existing residential and commercial customers.
Louisiana’s data center incentive was created to make the state more competitive for large technology investments. The exemption covers qualifying equipment, software, construction materials, labor and other expenses tied directly to certified data centers. To qualify, a project must create at least 50 permanent jobs and spend at least $200 million in new capital investment by July 1, 2029.
The incentive has certainly worked to attract data centers, which are coming to the state in flocks often with billions of dollars to spend. They have also brought controversy, especially in regards to the amount of electricity and water needed to serve them.
Landry’s executive order responded to growing concerns that existing Entergy customers could be asked to absorb costs tied to the massive electricity demand from Meta’s data center in Richland Parish, including Entergy’s proposed purchase and upgrade of a Texas power plant.
“Before any new data set expansion can proceed, we must balance the extraordinary opportunities that these projects bring to our state with the obligation to protect what cannot be replaced, which are our natural resources,” Landry said at a press conference. “Growth must enhance, not diminish and the long-term well-being of our people and communities must be paramount.”