5 Ways Meta’s Data Center Could Affect Your Acadiana Power Bill
LAFAYETTE, La. — If regulators approve Entergy Louisiana’s pending purchase of a Texas gas plant, the average residential customer would pay roughly $8 more a month, and a customer using more power in the summer could see closer to $13. That single filing has become the center of a growing fight over who actually pays for the power behind Meta’s massive data center expansion in Richland Parish, and whether Acadiana households on Entergy’s grid will feel it.
Most of Lafayette Parish outside the city limits, along with large stretches of Acadia, Vermilion, Iberia, St. Landry and St. Martin parishes, gets its electricity from Entergy Louisiana rather than a municipal utility or co-op. That means decisions playing out now at the Louisiana Public Service Commission over how to pay for Meta’s power could show up on bills across the region. Here are five ways it could happen.
The Plants Meta Is Paying for Directly
Entergy is building 10 natural gas power plants specifically to serve Hyperion, three approved last year and seven more added as the project expanded. Meta agreed to cover the full cost of the original three turbines rather than letting those costs land on regular customers’ bills, and Entergy says all 10 plants fall under a 15-to-20-year payment structure meant to keep Meta, not ratepayers, footing the bill.
This is the strongest part of the case Entergy and Meta make for why the expansion shouldn’t raise Acadiana bills, and it holds up under scrutiny, but it’s also narrower than it sounds. It only covers plants built specifically for Meta.
The Cottonwood Wildcard
The plants dedicated to Meta aren’t the only ones Entergy says it needs. The utility is separately seeking approval to buy an aging gas plant in Texas called Cottonwood, and a consultant hired by the Public Service Commission found the purchase is driven mainly by the power gap Meta’s data center is creating, even though Entergy frames it as general system growth.
Because Entergy is arguing Cottonwood serves the whole system rather than Meta alone, it isn’t covered by Meta’s payment guarantee, which is exactly why it could add $8 to $13 a month to the average Entergy Louisiana bill if regulators approve it. Commissioners are still reviewing the deal, with a vote not expected until sometime this fall.
Rising Market Prices, Even Without New Plants
Separate from who builds or buys a power plant, Acadiana ratepayers could feel the expansion through the wholesale energy market itself. The Alliance for Affordable Energy, a consumer advocacy group that has opposed the pace of Meta’s approvals, argues that Hyperion’s enormous electricity draw will push up the market cost of power generally, and that cost gets passed through to customers as a fuel charge on their monthly bill, regardless of which specific plant produced the electricity. Under that argument, even Entergy customers with no direct tie to the Cottonwood purchase could see some upward pressure on their fuel costs simply because demand across the regional grid has grown.
A Lower Bar for the Next Data Center
Late last year, the Public Service Commission adopted a fast-track approval process for power plants tied to large industrial customers like data centers, a rule authored by Commissioner Jean-Paul Coussan, a Lafayette Republican who represents Acadiana on the five-member commission. The new rule speeds up approval timelines but also sets a lower bar for ratepayer protection going forward, directing large-load customers to cover only half the cost of new plants built for them rather than the full amount Meta agreed to for its original three turbines. That means future data center deals in Louisiana, potentially including additional Meta phases not yet locked into today’s agreements, may not come with the same full-cost guarantee this one did.
What Happens After Meta’s Contract Ends
The power plants built for Hyperion are designed to last for decades, but Meta’s payment agreement with Entergy only runs 15 to 20 years. Critics of the deal have pointed out that if Meta scales back its Louisiana operations or doesn’t renew its contract once that term expires, the physical plants will still be standing, and someone will have to cover the cost of running or retiring them.
That long-term question doesn’t affect bills today, but it’s part of why some state lawmakers and commissioners are pushing for stronger guardrails now rather than waiting to find out.
Where This Stands Heading Into Fall
Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order in June creating a statewide “Ratepayer and Community Protection Framework” for future data center incentives after the Cottonwood controversy became public, while continuing to defend the broader push to bring data centers to Louisiana. The order does not apply to Entergy’s power plant filings, which remain under the Public Service Commission’s authority.
Commissioner Mike Francis, a Crowley Republican, and Commissioner Davante Lewis, a Baton Rouge Democrat, have both said they need more information before deciding on Cottonwood, and Entergy has not yet formally responded to the consultant’s report. The commission is expected to take up Entergy’s fast-tracked seven-plant application again in December, with the Cottonwood decision likely coming sometime before that.
For now, no Acadiana ratepayer is being charged for Meta’s expansion. Whether that changes will come down to two dates on the calendar: the Cottonwood vote expected this fall and the commission’s next review of the broader plant package in December.
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