Advocates Appeal Louisiana PSC’s “Arbitrary and Capricious” Decision to Let Meta Off the Hook for its Data Center Project

Advocates Appeal Louisiana PSC's "Arbitrary and Capricious" Decision to Let Meta Off the Hook for its Data Center Project

After the Louisiana PSC ruled that Meta can continue withholding critical information as it fast-tracks approval of seven additional gas plants to power its AI data center, advocates call on the Civil Court to put Louisianans first

Contacts

Kathryn McGrath, [email protected]

The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) made a hasty and legally unjustified decision to reject an Administrative Law Judge's (ALJ) order requiring Meta to hand over critical information about its Hyperion data center project, according to an appeal filed by advocates on Friday. The Alliance for Affordable Energy (AAE) and Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), represented by Earthjustice, are urging the Civil District Court for the 19th Judicial District to reverse the LPSC's decision and reinstate the subpoena that the ALJ granted in July at Earthjustice's request.

The Court now has a rare opportunity to ensure some transparency and accountability in the LPSC's fast-tracked regulatory review of utility Entergy's proposal to build seven additional gas plants primarily for Meta to power its enormous data center in Richland Parish-a proposal that the advocates are opposing.

In the appeal, advocates argue that at its August Business and Executive Open Session (B&E Meeting), the LPSC refused to even discuss the ALJ's ruling and moved to reverse it without any substantive review of the arguments. The LPSC also failed to consider Louisianans' overwhelming opposition to Meta's data center and its tireless efforts to evade public scrutiny during the public comment period and let the Meta attorney who refused to answer Commissioners' questions off the hook. Because of this, the advocates argue that the Court must hold the Commission accountable for its arbitrary and capricious decision.

"Meta is keeping us all in the dark about the jobs this hyperscale datacenter will create and the power it will need. The Commission's Chief ALJ, a lawyer with two decades of experience at the Commission, decided to fix this information gap with a well-reasoned decision supporting a lawful subpoena to Meta. The Commissioners vacated their own Chief ALJ's subpoena without asking Meta a single question, they inappropriately cut off argument and comment from dozens of Louisianans in favor of the subpoena, and they did not provide a single reason for their decision," said Susan Stevens Miller, senior attorney at Earthjustice representing the Alliance for Affordable Energy and Union of Concerned Scientists in this case. "We think a Louisiana judge reviewing these circumstances, and the Commission's lack of proper procedure, will see that Meta owes answers to the people of Louisiana and reinstate the subpoena."

The LPSC decision was made after Meta successfully challenged the ALJ's ruling requiring Meta to demonstrate its level of economic investment and permanent job creation for the Hyperion data center and substantiate the amount of electricity load it will need. Meta and Entergy have consistently tried to conceal information about the gas plant buildout, weaponizing NDAs with public officials - including the Governor - and erroneously trying to bar AAE and UCS from reviewing information they deem for "Attorneys Eyes Only". While Entergy recently decided to grant AAE and UCS limited access to some of the "Attorneys Eyes Only" information, both Entergy and Meta are fighting tooth and nail to evade transparency and accountability at every turn.

Meta also succeeded in moving its challenge of the subpoena issue before the LPSC, knowing it would find a more favorable audience before the Commissioners, most of whom are vocal proponents of the project. One of the outgoing Commissioners is even working simultaneously at Trump's Department of Energy pushing the rapid expansion of fossil fuel power for data centers. Meta is also exploiting the Governor's "Lightning Speed" initiative to ram through approvals for this project before two friendly LPSC Commissioners leave office after this year's elections. As reported last month, a VP at Entergy drafted a motion to settle the LPSC's review of Meta and Entergy's application for the first three gas plants for Hyperion - further evidence that the utility is making the decisions regarding Meta's project.

"Watching the LPSC so casually dismiss the concerns about transparency voiced in the meeting and waiving off the judge's carefully reasoned decision was deeply disappointing. The people of Louisiana depend on regulators who thoughtfully weigh the interests of all stakeholders, and that's not what has happened here," said Logan Burke, Executive Director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy.

"The Chief ALJ has made clear that Meta must back up its claims if Entergy wants to move forward with such a massive amount of additional fossil fuel infrastructure", said Paul Arbaje, senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Meta and Entergy should not get a free pass to circumvent basic transparency and accountability measures, especially for a project this costly and risky."

Meta is claiming the evidence the ALJ ruled it must provide isn't necessary for the LPSC to determine whether this massive fossil fuel buildout is in the public interest. This is completely false. In June, an LPSC consultant found that ELL's proposal to purchase a Texas gas plant to provide even more electricity to power Meta's Hyperion could increase residential utility bills by $8-$13 per month. Seven additional gas plants will only increase those costs.

Meta has also continuously made promises that this AI data center project will provide economic development and jobs to the state and surrounding community, including its recent claim that 1,000 permanent jobs would come out of the expanded Hyperion AI data center. These projects, however, notoriously produce very few permanent jobs and far fewer than tech companies promise.

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