Meta commits $50B to Louisiana data center, surrounding region

Meta will invest more than $50 billion in its data center and the surrounding area in Richland Parish, Louisiana, the company announced Monday. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram said the money represents one of the largest artificial intelligence infrastructure investments in the world. The project broke ground in December 2024. With the expansion, the new data center facility will reach nearly 10 million square feet and 5 gigawatts of IT capacity, making it the largest in Meta's global fleet and one of the largest data centers ever built, per Louisiana Economic Development. Meta contracted Turner Construction, DPR Construction and Mortenson to build the facility. Turner and Mortenson are the general contractors for the expansion, while DPR is building the first part of the project, Ashley Settle, business and infrastructure communications manager for Meta, told Construction Dive via email. Meta worked with all three firms in planning the expansion, she said, which was based on business needs. In Louisiana, Meta will pay the full costs of the energy, water and related infrastructure the data center will use, per the company's announcement. It flagged an agreement with utility provider Entergy Louisiana, under which Meta will fund seven new natural gas-fueled generating plants, approximately 240 miles of new 500 kV transmission lines, battery energy storage across three locations and other improvements. The project will support 7,500 construction jobs at peak construction, per LED. Louisiana is also one of four pilot locations for Meta's $115 million America's Workforce Academy, which will provide skilled trades training and job opportunities on data center projects.