Meta says it will spend an extra $40 billion on its nearly 4,000-acre data center campus in Louisiana in its quest for more compute power

• Meta's 4,000 acre Hyperion data center will receive an additional $40 billion investment
• Meta says the project has been a huge benefit for the local community of Richland Parish
• Multiple groups and local residents have criticized the massive campus and its energy sourcing

Meta has announced that an additional $40 billion will be used to fund the construction of its enormous 4,000 acre data center campus in Richland Parish, Louisiana.

This additional funding brings the total Meta investment for the ‘Hyperion’ site to over $250 billion when combined with Bloomberg reporting of $200 billion allocated for the project in May, plus a previously announced $10 billion investment for the data center and surrounding community.

The data center itself is expected to consume 5 gigawatts of computing power, with an additional 2 gigawatts for wider campus needs, placing the predicted total usage upon completion at more than three times the power consumed by the city of New Orleans.

A boon or bane for the local community?

In a Meta blog post, the company boasted about the benefits of the enormous data center campus for the local community.

It cites $50,000 bonuses for local teachers thanks to increased tax revenues on the Hyperion campus, alongside $1.6 billion in contracts for local businesses and other funding from Meta for public schools and youth programs via the Data Center Community Action Grants project.

“It’s life-altering for our teachers and their families, and it’s transforming our schools. Meta’s investment has made Richland Parish a destination for education as well as industry,” Richland Parish’s School District Superintendent, Sheldon Jones, told Meta.

Meta also said that once the project was completed, it would support 1,000 jobs. There is also a further $1 billion earmarked for investment in local infrastructure improvements, including roads, water and wastewater systems.

A promotional video accompanying Meta’s local funding news shows the story of a backwater town faced by a lack of business and opportunities, with local residents, teachers, and business owners speaking of the positives of having the Hyperion campus being constructed, accompanied by upbeat orchestral music.

While the select individuals featured in the Meta PR video preach of the benefits, there has also been local opposition to the project, which has been steeped in controversy.

The other side of the coin

Multiple environmental and consumer groups have pushed back against the project since its announcement, particularly around how the power for the data center will be generated. Entergy Louisiana is spending billions to construct 10 new gas-fired power plants to provide the necessary electricity. But many communities across the US who live in the vicinity of such power plants have reported a wave of symptoms, such as dizziness, nausea, vertigo, and sleep disruption.

A Floodlight investigation, published by the Guardian, found that the success of Hyperion’s approval rested largely on the shoulders of a single Louisiana state senator, John “Jay” Morris.

Many of the land purchases and sales required for Entergy to construct the planned gas turbine plant were undertaken by Morris and his partners, Floodlight claims. Louisiana law requires government officials to recuse themselves from voting when a conflict exists, and prohibits the use of public office for private gain.

Morris has denied any wrongdoing. “It makes a nice story if you can try to show that I have some sort of conflict. But under Louisiana’s ethics laws, I don’t,” Morris told the Guardian.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Alliance for Affordable Energy (AAE) have both criticized the Hyperion site, especially the amount of power it is planned to consume, warning that the site will unfairly shift the cost of electricity and infrastructure upgrades on to the site.

Additionally, the approval for the Entergy gas turbine power plant was fast-tracked through the Louisiana Public Service Commission, with the UCS warning that Entergy ratepayers would have to cover the costs of a $550 million transmission line that is only necessary because of the Hyperion site, alongside the fuel costs for the new gas turbine plant.