Everything you need to know about Louisiana’s planned AI data center | Wednesday

Meta, Facebook’s parent companyplans to build a massive artificial intelligence data center in northern Louisiana, the first of its kind in the state.

The tech giant’s project will cost $5 billion and require Entergy to have three new natural gas-fired power plants as well as other generation upgrades to power the site, according to Entergy documents filed with the Public Utilities Commission.

If approved, proposed artificial intelligence object could use nearly a third of Entergy’s capacity in Louisiana, state officials said. But it is also projected to create hundreds of jobs in a part of the state with high poverty rates, a reason state officials celebrated the announcement.

Here’s how data centers work and what the government can expect.

What are data centers?

Data centers are airport-sized buildings filled with computer servers and other IT infrastructure that serve as a means for companies to store, process and send data.

In addition to storage and cloud services, powerful tools can support things like artificial intelligence machine learning, social media, large e-commerce purchases, real-time mapping services, and even cryptocurrency mining.

Companies like Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft are spending hundreds of billions of dollars building these data centers in the U.S. and abroad, and data centers are an important part of the artificial intelligence boom that is rapidly transforming the global technology industry.

Specialized AI data centers, sometimes called “AI factories,” provide the infrastructure that helps train and provide insight into AI systems and algorithms. Such training requires enormous data processing power.

How many are there in the USA?

The US accounts for approximately 40% of the global data center market. according to McKinsey and Companyglobal management consulting firm.

Data Statisticians shows that there are more than 5,000 data centers in the US. Germany, which has the second largest share of data centers in the world, has only 521 data centers.

Meta currently operates more than two dozen data centers in the country.

Earlier this month one of Meta’s newest data centers was completed outside of Nashville. The 800-acre campus consists of two buildings totaling more than 1.5 million square feet, with a third planned. The $1.5 billion facility employed 1,100 construction workers during construction and now has 100 full-time employees.

How much energy do they use?

Because data centers are constantly running computers and servers, they require enormous amounts of energy to run. They also require fans and cooling to prevent overheating.

According to International Energy Agencyand data centers currently use 1% of the world’s energy supply. Between 2017 and 2021, the combined electricity consumption of Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta more than doubled, according to the IEA.

The energy required to operate data centers, especially artificial intelligence data centers, is expected to continue to increase. According to TIME magazineResearchers have found that the cost of computing power required to train AI models is doubling every nine months.

In smaller countries, data centers account for the majority of total electricity consumption. Ireland has imposed a moratorium on the construction of new data centers in Dublin until 2028 after they accounted for 18% of the country’s total electricity consumption in 2022, according to the IEA.

If the Louisiana AI data center opens, it could account for 30% of Entergy’s capacity in Louisiana, state officials say.

In addition to energy consumption, data centers also require large amounts of water to cool computer systems. For example, several dozen questions in ChatGPT. can generate amount of water in a 16 oz cup. And by 2027, global water use by artificial intelligence predicted be equivalent to the water consumption of a small European country.

What are the plans for the Louisiana data center?

Meta is expected to set up shop on more than 2,250 acres of farmland off Highway 183 in Richland County, about 80 miles east of Monroe, according to a public notice. The $5 billion project is expected to employ 300 to 500 people with an average salary of $82,000, according to Entergy documents filed with the Public Service Commission.

To support the facility, Entergy is asking state regulators to build three natural gas plants that will support the center and provide a total of 2,262 megawatts of power. The power company is also requesting new transmission lines and other grid upgrades.

The data center will also need additional generation, Entergy’s filings with the commission show, including an additional 1,500 megawatts of solar power. For scale, Entergy’s New Orleans power plant generates up to 128 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 80,000 homes.

Entergy’s plans for new power plants include the use of other renewable energy sources such as nuclear, solar and wind in the future.

What concerns does this plan raise?

Critics have raised concerns about the project’s enormous energy consumption, reliance on fossil fuels, high water demand and the impact the data center could have on taxpayers. Environmental, non-profit and utility organizations got involved.

Entergy says the tech giant will cover most of the new power plants that will power the data center, but some worry it could impact customers or if Meta decides to abandon the project.

Officials are touting the project as a huge win for northeast Louisiana, a region that has long struggled with high poverty rates. The completed Meta data center in Nashville resulted in both temporary construction jobs and permanent positions typically requiring an associate’s degree.

But some advocates question whether the new Louisiana data center jobs will be primarily construction jobs and how much they will benefit North Louisiana residents.

Another problem is the dependence of data centers on fossil fuel power plants.

Entergy does have renewable energy plans included in the project, including promises to work with Meta on wind and nuclear power opportunities, but Entergy is currently asking for natural gas plants.

Advocates say they want to see real promises when it comes to sustainability.