Entergy has received approval from Louisiana regulators to construct three gas plants that will supply power to a Meta data center in the state.

The company will also build new transmission infrastructure and plans to acquire up to 1.5 gigawatts of solar resources for the facility.

Entergy is a utility company based in the southern US.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ AI data centers are driving unprecedented energy infrastructure demands

Meta’s need for dedicated power plants reflects a broader transformation in how tech companies approach energy infrastructure.

AI data center electricity demand is projected to grow more than thirtyfold by 2035, from 4 gigawatts in 2024 to 123 gigawatts, according to Deloitte analysis1.

Individual AI facilities are seeing dramatic increases in power requirements, with some data centers jumping from 5 to 50 megawatts of energy usage as they integrate AI capabilities.

Grid connection delays now extend up to seven years for large facilities, forcing companies like Meta to pursue dedicated power generation rather than wait for grid capacity1.

The scale becomes clearer when considering that the largest current data centers draw less than 500 megawatts, but new constructions are expected to require 2,000 megawatts or more, which is equivalent to powering multiple cities.

2️⃣ Data centers create unique energy economics that favor hybrid power strategies

Entergy’s mixed approach of gas plants plus solar reflects the challenging economics of powering data centers.

These facilities consume 10 to 50 times more energy per floor space than typical office buildings and can use as much power as entire small cities23.

Energy costs represent 30 to 50 percent of a data center’s total operating expenses, making power strategy critical to profitability3.

The combination of gas and solar allows utilities to provide reliable baseload power immediately while building renewable capacity over time, addressing both the urgent timeline needs of tech companies and longer-term sustainability goals.