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LA — Power Infrastructure Updated January 2026

Louisiana

MISO Natural Gas Solar Data Center PPAs Queue Bottlenecks Transmission Constraints

Overview

Louisiana is racing to add generation and transmission capacity to serve two major data center projects: Meta’s Richland Parish facility and Hut 8’s River Bend campus in West Feliciana Parish. Entergy Louisiana is building three new combined-cycle gas plants totaling around 1,500 MW, procuring up to 1,500 MW of solar, and filing for a $1B transmission upgrade in West Louisiana. The state’s energy task force has flagged the need to fast-track generation through MISO’s interconnection process, which faces a 39.64 GW queue backlog.

Generation Projects

Natural Gas

Entergy Louisiana is building three combined-cycle combustion turbine (CCCT) facilities to serve Meta’s Richland Parish data center and improve system reliability. Two plants are sited in Richland Parish with an online target of late 2028, while a third CCCT is planned at the Waterford site in St. Charles Parish with a target of end 2029. The two Richland Parish plants will add about 1,500 MW of gas capacity.[1][2]

Solar

Entergy Louisiana has received approval to procure up to 1,500 MW of solar resources via an expedited certification process aimed at meeting large-load customer needs.[1] Treaty Oak Clean Energy signed PPAs (power purchase agreements — long-term contracts to buy electricity) with Meta for two utility-scale solar projects totaling 385 MW: Beekman Solar in Morehouse Parish (185 MW) and Hollis Creek Solar in Sabine Parish (200 MW), both targeting commercial operation in third quarter 2027.[4]

Transmission and Grid

Entergy filed for a $1B transmission buildout to support a $10B data center in West Feliciana Parish, with expected demand around 345 MW and a planned in-service target of August 2029. The filing notes that cost recovery could place most costs on ratepayers.[5] LPSC (Louisiana Public Service Commission) approval also includes new transmission facilities to serve Meta’s Richland Parish data center and broader reliability upgrades across Entergy Louisiana’s system.[1]

Data Center Power Agreements

Meta signed long-term PPAs for two Louisiana solar projects totaling 385 MW: Beekman Solar (185 MW) and Hollis Creek Solar (200 MW), with target in-service of third quarter 2027.[4] Meta also agreed to fund the full cost of utility infrastructure needed to interconnect and serve its Richland Parish data center, limiting cost-shifting to other customers.[1]

Hut 8’s River Bend campus in West Feliciana Parish is tied to a 330 MW utility capacity commitment from Entergy, with potential scaling to 1,000 MW of utility capacity.[8]

Interconnection Queue

Interconnection.fyi shows 145 active requests totaling 39.64 GW for Louisiana as of January 2026.[6] MISO’s DPP-2022 cycle included 171 GW of proposed generation, and MISO reported 70% of projects from 2017–2018 cycles were withdrawn, signaling a long queue and study bottlenecks for Louisiana’s MISO South footprint.[7] Louisiana’s energy task force highlighted the need to fast-track new generation through MISO to meet large-load timelines.[3]

What to Watch

  • Entergy’s solar procurement process and project selection under the 1,500 MW authorization
  • West Feliciana transmission project filings and cost recovery decisions by the LPSC
  • MISO interconnection study results for Richland Parish CCCTs and solar projects
  • Louisiana’s Energy Infrastructure and Modernization Task Force recommendations on nuclear and battery storage options

Sources

[1] Entergy Louisiana, “Entergy Louisiana receives LPSC approval for major infrastructure investments to support Meta’s data center and improve reliability,” Press release, August 20, 2025, https://www.entergy.com/news/entergy-louisiana-receives-lpsc-approval-for-major-infrastructure-investments-to-support-metas-data-center-and-improve-reliability (accessed 2026-01-08).

[2] Entergy Louisiana (PR Newswire via Nasdaq), “Entergy Louisiana breaks ground on new, state-of-the-art generation facilities to power reliability, growth and innovation,” Press release, December 1, 2025, https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/entergy-louisiana-breaks-ground-new-state-art-generation-facilities-power-reliability (accessed 2026-01-08).

[3] New Orleans CityBusiness, “Louisiana task force details efforts for state’s power future,” September 16, 2025, https://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2025/09/16/louisiana-energy-task-force-infrastructure-2025/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[4] Darrell Proctor, “Meta Signs PPAs with Treaty Oak Clean Energy for Louisiana Solar Projects,” POWER Magazine, November 10, 2025, https://www.powermag.com/meta-signs-ppas-with-treaty-oak-clean-energy-for-louisiana-solar-projects/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[5] New Orleans CityBusiness, “Entergy seeks more big projects in 2026 as Louisiana load surges,” January 5, 2026, https://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2026/01/05/entergy-louisiana-1b-transmission-project/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[6] Interconnection.fyi, “Latest Active Louisiana Generation Interconnection Queue Requests with daily data updates,” Data page, accessed 2026-01-08, https://www.interconnection.fyi/?state=LA (accessed 2026-01-08).

[7] Maxwell Multer, “FERC Approves MISO Interconnection Queue Reforms, Rejects Overall Queue Cap,” POWER Magazine, February 2, 2024, https://www.powermag.com/ferc-approves-miso-interconnection-queue-reforms-rejects-overall-queue-cap/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[8] BusinessFacilities.com, “Hut 8 Picks Southeast Louisiana For $10B AI Data Center,” December 30, 2025, https://businessfacilities.com/hut-8-picks-southeast-louisiana-for-10b-ai-data-center (accessed 2026-01-08).