Transparency Win: Judge Orders Meta to Reveal Withheld Evidence Behind Louisiana Gas Plant Buildout

Baton Rouge, La. (July 14, 2026)-On Friday, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ordered Meta to turn over key information it has hidden from the public about Entergy Louisiana's proposal to build seven additional gas power plants for its "Hyperion" hyperscale data center in Richland Parish, granting Earthjustice's request, representing the Alliance for Affordable Energy (AAE) and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The decision came just days before Meta publicly announced that it plans to more than double the size of the data center and its energy demand from what was previously publicly disclosed. Meta has until July 20th to respond to the ruling.

The ALJ ruled that Meta must turn over analyses, data, reports, calculations, and/or other evidence that:

• demonstrate Meta's level of economic investment and permanent job creation for its Richland Parish data center; and
• substantiate the amount of electricity load the Richland Parish data center will need.

In an initial fast-tracked proceeding last year, the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) denied a request for critical information made by Earthjustice, together with its clients AAE and UCS, while it approved the first three Entergy gas power plants for Meta's Hyperion data center. These information requests would have allowed the public to weigh in on key components of the project - a project that threatens to raise utility rates for Louisianans, is likely to increase pollution, and may not create the number of permanent jobs promised. In contrast, this latest ruling requires Meta to come to the table and provide more essential economic information to stakeholders and impacted communities.

Last month, an LPSC consultant found that Entergy's proposal to purchase a Texas gas plant to provide even more electricity to power Hyperion could increase residential utility bills by $8-$13 per month. Louisiana ratepayers deserve to know how Meta calculated its energy needs, whether those projections are justified, and how much they will ultimately be forced to pay.

While the ALJ denied part of the recent requests for Meta to produce information on load variability and Meta's assets, as well as communications between Meta and Entergy regarding Meta's sustainability agreement, Friday's ruling is a major win and an important step toward a more transparent regulatory process.

If Meta and Entergy want approval for projects that will reshape Louisiana's energy system and increase costs for homes and small businesses, they should be required to prove their claims with hard evidence.

"For too long, Meta has exploited its power to persuade Louisiana regulators and ratepayers to take the company at its word while withholding the information needed to hold it accountable," said Susan Stevens Miller, senior attorney at Earthjustice. "As Meta continues to expand its enormous data center footprint in Louisiana, transparency can no longer remain optional when the public is paying the price."

"Meta has confirmed its intention to build a power-hungry data center complex that consumes more electricity than the entire city of New Orleans at peak demand times four," said Paul Arbaje, senior analyst at UCS. "It's far past due for the company to be required to back up its claimed energy needs, which would put enormous strain on Louisiana's grid and trigger far more pollution from Entergy's costly new fossil fuel plants."

"Meta has repeatedly pointed to job creation and economic benefits to justify its growing energy demands. Now it must back up those claims with evidence to ensure these promises become a reality, not just false promises," said Logan Burke, Executive Director of AAE. "This information will help us evaluate how many permanent jobs will be created, what those jobs will look like, and whether there are training programs in place to ensure those jobs will actually go to Louisiana workers. This ruling is a win for transparency."