Meta will fund seven new natural gas plants to power its biggest data center yet

Meta will fundamentally ft nan powerfulness measure for nan $27 cardinal mega information halfway it's building successful Louisiana. On Friday, nan Wall Street Journal reported that nan institution struck a woody to money nan power infrastructure needed for nan project.

Through a woody pinch Entergy Louisiana, Meta will money 7 caller earthy state powerfulness plants, 240 miles of transmission lines and artillery power retention astatine 3 locations. The state plants will person a mixed powerfulness output of 5,200 megawatts, and nan transmission lines will run astatine 500 kilovolts.

In addition, nan institution will thief money up to 2,500 MW of caller renewable resources. It besides agreed to a memorandum of knowing for early atomic powerfulness development. The 4-million-square-foot Richland Parish, LA, information halfway will beryllium Meta's biggest yet. It's presently nether construction.

The power woody follows a promise by tech companies, including Meta, to offset section residents’ rising energy costs from AI information centers. The companies scheme to "build, bring aliases bargain nan caller procreation resources and energy needed to fulfill their caller power demands, paying nan afloat costs of those resources." However, nan promise lacks a binding statement aliases immoderate enforcement mechanisms.

The displacement successful reside comes successful consequence to increasing anger from section communities complete nan emergence of power-hungry, environmentally damaging AI information centers. A December poll recovered that 60 percent of Americans — including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents — support much AI regulation. Just this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced a measure to force a moratorium connected information halfway construction until meaningful regulations are passed.

We could easy record this and akin moves arsenic Big Tech's latest effort to person voters and officials that it tin beryllium trusted to do correct without enforceable regulations. We've seen that movie before.