Meta will fund seven new natural gas power plants, 240 miles of transmission lines, and battery storage to power its massive 4-million-square-foot data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana. The combined 5,200-megawatt output from the gas plants will meet the facility's immense energy demands, while the company also agreed to contribute up to 2,500 megawatts of renewable resources. This significant infrastructure investment follows a pledge by tech companies, including Meta, to offset rising local electricity costs driven by AI data centers, though the agreement lacks binding enforcement mechanisms.

The move comes amid growing community anger over the environmental impact of power-hungry AI facilities and a recent bill seeking a moratorium on new data center construction until regulations are established.