- Meta’s 4,000-acre Hyperion data center to receive additional $40 billion investment
- Meta says the project has been a great benefit to the local Richland Parish community
- Multiple local groups and residents have criticized the massive campus and its power supply.
Meta has announced that an additional $40 billion will be used to fund the construction of its massive 4,000-acre data center campus in Richland Parish, Louisiana.
This additional funding brings Meta’s total investment for the ‘Hyperion’ site to more than $250 billion when combined with Bloomberg reports of $200 billion allocated for the project in May, plus a previously announced investment of $10 billion for the data center and surrounding community.
The data center is expected to consume 5 gigawatts of computing power, with an additional 2 gigawatts for broader campus needs, putting the total anticipated usage upon completion at more than three times the energy consumed by the city of New Orleans.
In a Meta blog post, the company boasted about the benefits of the massive data center campus to the local community.
It cites $50,000 bonuses for local teachers thanks to increased tax revenue on the Hyperion campus, along with $1.6 billion in contracts for local businesses and other Meta funding for public schools and youth programs through the Data Center Community Action Grants project.
“This is life-changing for our teachers and their families, and it is transforming our schools. Meta’s investment has made Richland Parish a destination for both education and industry,” Richland Parish School District Superintendent Sheldon Jones told Meta.
Meta also said that once the project is completed, it would generate 1,000 jobs. There is also another $1 billion earmarked for investments in local infrastructure improvements, including roads, water and wastewater systems.
A promotional video accompanying Meta’s local funding news shows the story of a remote city facing a lack of business and opportunity, with local residents, teachers and business owners talking about the positive aspects of having the Hyperion campus under construction, accompanied by upbeat orchestral music.
While the select people featured in the Meta PR video preach about the benefits, there has also been local opposition to the project, which has been rife with controversy.
The other side of the coin
Multiple environmental and consumer groups have rejected the project since its announcement, particularly around how power for the data center will be generated. Entergy Louisiana is spending billions to build 10 new gas-fired power plants to provide needed electricity. But many communities across the United States living in close proximity to such power plants have reported a wave of symptoms, including dizziness, nausea, vertigo and sleep disturbances.
A Floodlight investigation, published by Guardianfound that the success of Hyperion’s passage depended largely on a single Louisiana state senator, John “Jay” Morris.
Many of the land purchases and sales necessary for Entergy to build the planned gas turbine plant were made by Morris and his partners, Floodlight claims. Louisiana law requires government officials to abstain from voting when a conflict exists and prohibits the use of public office for private gain.
Morris has denied any wrongdoing. “It’s a good story if you can try to show that I have some kind of conflict. But under Louisiana ethics laws, I don’t,” Morris told The Guardian.
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Alliance for Affordable Energy (AAE) have criticized the Hyperion site, especially the amount of energy it is planned to consume, warning that the site will unfairly shift the cost of electricity and infrastructure upgrades to the site.
Additionally, approval of Entergy’s gas turbine power plant was fast-tracked through the Louisiana Public Utilities Commission, with UCS warning that Entergy ratepayers would have to cover the costs of a $550 million transmission line that is only needed because of the Hyperion site, along with fuel costs for the new gas turbine plant.
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