Earthjustice Clients in Louisiana Respond to White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge

Richland Parish communities fighting Meta's massive data center speak out about the fight for transparency

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President Trump announced that 200 additional entities involved in developing and powering AI data centers have signed on to his voluntary ratepayer protection pledge first announced in March. The President of Meta, CEO of Louisiana utility Entergy, and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry were among those who joined the President for the announcement at the White House yesterday. The announcement comes as Americans continue to push back against the rapid proliferation of AI data centers that are causing utility bills to skyrocket, straining grids, and harming their communities and the climate.

In Louisiana, Earthjustice, representing the Alliance for Affordable Energy and the Union of Concerned Scientists, intervened in a case in front of the Louisiana Public Service Commission challenging Entergy Louisiana's proposal to build seven additional gas power plants, through a fast-tracked proceeding, for Meta's second hyperscale data center in Richland Parish. Recently, an administrative Law Judge (ALJ) granted Earthjustice's request ordering Meta to turn over key information it has hidden from the public about Entergy Louisiana's proposal.

But the trillion-dollar company subsequently filed motions to challenge that ruling in an effort to continue hiding critical information about Entergy Louisiana's proposal, including how it determined how much energy its data center will actually need and how much those costs will be shifted onto Louisianans. If Meta and Entergy actually care about ratepayers in Louisiana as they pledged to, why are they trying to ram through these gas plants without oversight and accountability?

"Right now, Meta and Entergy are fighting tooth and nail to fast-track approval of seven new gas plants for its massive data center project in Richland Parish, all while hiding critical information from the public about how much the project will cost ratepayers and what jobs it will actually bring. Joining Trump for a press conference in support of an unenforceable ratepayer protection pledge while actively picking the pockets of ratepayers is a slap in the face to Louisianans. Signing on to Trump's pledge is meaningless without legitimate transparency and enforceable protections," said Susan Stevens Miller, senior attorney at Earthjustice.

"We support real consumer protections, but a voluntary pledge doesn't guarantee the benefits Meta and Entergy are touting will ever materialize," said Logan Burke, Executive Director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy. "This pledge is a publicity stunt. Meanwhile, Meta and Entergy are hiding behind NDAs and fighting a judge's subpoena that requires them to disclose key information the public needs to evaluate the supposed benefits. The Public Service Commission needs to stand on transparency, because they are the ones who will ultimately have to enforce this pledge."

"Entergy and Meta have continually fought basic transparency and cost-saving measures in their ongoing efforts to build more costly and polluting gas plants that won't benefit the public," said Paul Arbaje, senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Without intervention by regulators or legislators, both companies will continue putting Louisianans health, wallets and environment at risk. People deserve strong, enforceable protections against data centers' enormous impacts, not empty promises."

Many questions remain about President Trump's pledge, as well as iterations of ratepayer protection pledges that governors have introduced across the country. Ultimately, these pledges and guidelines, whether at the federal or state level, will require enforcement from state regulators. Without protective, binding, enforceable policies from state regulators, the companies racing to power data centers will continue to inflate costs across the system. Unenforceable pledges are no substitute for meaningful regulatory oversight.

Without protective, binding, enforceable policies from state regulators-like developing special rates for data centers-the companies racing to power data centers will continue to inflate costs across the system, from wholesale and capacity market prices to the price of fuel, even if they build their own power and assume all costs.

Driven by data center growth, the U.S. now leads the world in the amount of new methane gas power plant capacity under development. Building gas plants to fuel data centers would lock the U.S. into decades of expensive, dirty energy, and increased deadly pollution. Effective regulation for AI data centers will ensure that everyday ratepayers won't be left paying for massive energy and water consumption, or for fossil fuel infrastructure built to power proposed facilities that may never materialize. Renewable energy paired with storage is faster to deploy, cheaper and far less polluting. While this Administration has done everything it can to halt clean energy development, that is the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to bring more electricity to the grid.

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