The largest Meta data center yet brings big impact to Louisiana
Meta data centers are part of the global infrastructure that brings our technologies and programs to life.
In December 2024, Meta announced that we are building our largest data center to date in Richland Parish, Louisiana. The Richland Parish Data Center will be part of our global infrastructure that brings Meta technologies and programs to life, making the future of human connection possible. This data center will play a vital role in accelerating our AI progress, delivering 5 gigawatts of compute capacity to house Hyperion, our largest multi-gigawatt AI cluster.
The Richland Parish Data Center will also bring big benefits to northeast Louisiana. Like all Meta data centers, our Richland Parish site will support the development of strong, sustainable communities by sourcing materials and hiring locally where we can, investing in the local economy, and providing community grants to local schools and nonprofits.
“Meta’s investment establishes the region as an anchor in Louisiana’s rapidly expanding tech sector, revitalizes one of our state’s beautiful rural areas and creates opportunities for Louisiana workers to fill high-paying jobs of the future. I thank Meta for their commitment to our state.” —Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry
$50B+
Data center investment in Louisiana
7,500+
Skilled trade workers onsite at peak construction
1,000
Operational jobs supported, once completed
Partnering with Richland Parish
Meta is committed to being a good neighbor and community partner. More than $1.6 billion in contracts have gone to Louisiana businesses since construction began — keeping investment in-state and fueling small business growth. This year, teachers in Richland Parish received annual bonuses of up to $50,000 — 400% higher than last year — thanks to increased tax revenues from Meta’s data center project.
Supporting local organizations
Meta is investing in local schools and organizations with recent donations to Richland Parish Public Schools, the Richland Voluntary Council on Aging, and Northeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery. Meta supports the community through our annual Data Center Community Action Grants program providing direct funding for local nonprofits that support the community. We already have provided over $1 million in community grants to local schools to deliver hands-on STEM programs reaching hundreds of students. Additionally, we bring our no-cost digital skills training workshops to Richland Parish, helping small businesses and nonprofits grow their reach.
Building efficient and sustainable data centers
We take a full-lifecycle approach, focusing on reducing environmental impact from design and construction through operations and the responsible management of our equipment. Meta has been working closely with Entergy to plan for our energy needs, and we pay the full costs for the energy used by our data center, so consumers are not negatively impacted.
Through our partnership with Entergy, we’re delivering an expected $2.65 billion in customer savings over the next 20 years. We’ve also contributed $215 million to Entergy’s low- and fixed-income bill assistance and energy efficiency programs.
Our goal is restoring more water than we consume globally in 2030
Water is a finite resource — every drop matters. That’s why our water stewardship program focuses on minimizing data center water use, restoring water to local watersheds and being transparent with our water data. In Louisiana, Meta is partnering with Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) to improve water quality in the Bayou Pierre-Red River watershed through the restoration of a 316-acre cattle pasture to native forested upland and wetland habitats. Meta is also providing seed funding for the establishment of the Mississippi River Water Action Collaborative, an organization that will bring together community, government, NGO, and private sector stakeholders to address shared water challenges in the Mississippi River basin. This collaborative is being led by the Pacific Institute, America’s Watershed Initiative, and LimnoTech.
Job opportunities in Richland Parish
Hiring is open for our Richland Parish Data Center! Each data center building requires thousands of skilled trade labor jobs to construct — steel workers, pipefitters, electricians, carpenters, fiber technicians and more.
Once operational, this data center will support 1,000 operational jobs — electricians, HVAC specialists, server and network techs and engineers — to run the world’s most advanced data center. Check out current job openings with Mortenson, DPR Construction and Turner Construction Company, the three general contractors on the project.
Enabling the future of AI
The Richland Parish Data Center will play a vital role in accelerating our AI progress and enabling future generations of AI infrastructure. The data center will deliver over two gigawatts of compute capacity to train future open-source large language models — helping Meta unlock historic innovation and expand American technology leadership.
Minimizing water use
The Richland Parish Data Center will utilize a closed-loop system that circulates a glycol mixture through data halls to efficiently absorb and transfer heat from high-density AI computing hardware. The heat is removed from the closed-loop system with dry cooling for a majority of the year.
Supporting a strong community
We’re proud to support local organizations that make Richland Parish a strong, sustainable community. Our contributions include a donation to support workforce development programs in Richland Parish Public Schools that focus on critical job training using cutting-edge AR/VR technology; support for the Richland Voluntary Council on Aging and their core services, including meal deliveries to homebound senior citizens and a community center; and enabling Northeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery to make long-planned improvements to the grounds and facility at its Rayville location.
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