Motion Filed to Defend Louisiana Ratepayers Against Entergy’s Attempt to Circumvent Commission Policy

BATON ROUGE, La. (February 13, 2025) — Today, Earthjustice filed a motion on behalf of the Alliance for Affordable Energy and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) asking Louisiana utility regulators to deny Entergy’s request for an exemption from the state’s request for proposals (RFP) process. Entergy is seeking approval from the state’s Public Service Commission to build three, billion-dollar gas plants in Northeast Louisiana to power a newly proposed data center. The 20-year-old RFP policy was recently updated to better protect ratepayers by ensuring least-cost options are considered to meet electricity demands.

Last December, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced plans to build its largest data center to date in Richland Parish, Louisiana. To meet the energy demands of the 4 million-square-foot complex (roughly the size of 70 football fields), Entergy, the state’s largest utility provider, is attempting to fast-track the buildout of three gas power plants capable of generating a combined 2,262 megawatts of electricity — over 180 times the amount of electricity New Orleans needed for the 2025 Super Bowl.

However, Entergy’s application to move forward with construction did not follow the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s RFP policy, which requires utility companies to fully assess through a competitive process the options available for meeting electricity demands, including power supply from independent power generators. The Earthjustice motion asks the Commission to require the issuance of an RFP and deny Entergy’s current application to bring them into compliance with Commission rules.

Below are statements from Logan Burke, Alliance for Affordable Energy and Paul Arbaje, Union of Concerned Scientists.

“The Commission has thoughtfully crafted a policy to protect Louisianans from risks and excessive costs, but Entergy has insisted they be allowed to sidestep the rules,” said Logan Burke, executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy. “While the utility is excited to serve this new ‘significant customer’ we are simply urging them to look out for all of their customers.”

“Louisiana ratepayers already suffer the consequences of overreliance on gas, from higher electricity costs due to gas price spikes to unreliability during extreme weather events,” said Paul Arbaje, an analyst for the Climate and Energy program at UCS. “If Meta chooses not to re-sign, or even terminates its initial 15-year electricity supply contract early, Louisianans will be left to foot the bill for these massive new gas plants. The Commission’s competitive RFP process is likely to bring cleaner, less expensive proposals for meeting the data center’s energy needs.”

“This rule protects ratepayers by ensuring that exemptions are only granted when a utility has justified its exemption request with credible evidence,” states the motion. It goes on to describe how Entergy’s application does not comply with RFP rules by relying on “unsubstantiated assertions” from Meta about load needs and timeline, as well as “unsworn hearsay testimony” regarding economic opportunity for the region, concluding there is “not a justification for circumventing the Commission’s clear rules, particularly when an exemption could saddle ratepayers with significant expenses.”