More than 18 months after Louisiana officials began wooing executives from Meta to the state, eventually helping land the Facebook parent company’s massive artificial intelligence data center near Monroe, Entergy Louisiana CEO Phillip May said he sees more economic development potential in the state than at any time in his 40-year career.
“We have the greatest economic pipeline since the post-World War II years,” May said in an interview Tuesday. “We have growth from the traditional petrochemical sector and also a new set of opportunities.”
At the same time, however, profound and rapid changes to the nation’s energy and trade policies under President Donald Trump are threatening to chill new investments as companies grapple with the uncertainty.
“Companies are trying to make 30-, 40-, 50-year decisions, and policy shifts make it hard,” May said. “If something is hurting us in Louisiana right now, more than anything else, it is uncertainty.”
The way the estimated $10 billion Meta deal came together — less than a year separated Entergy’s initial pitch to Meta and the formal announcement by Gov. Jeff Landry — was highly unusual, May said.
Multibillion-dollar investments typically take years to gel, and that means companies want to know that policies won’t change drastically.
“Risk scares business and they cannot make a decision when we continue to change policy,” he said.
‘Why aren’t we in Louisiana’
May’s comments highlighted how the Trump administration’s policies are rippling through board rooms in Louisiana and elsewhere, with business leaders working to adjust to big changes in tariffs, renewable tax credits and federal funding. But despite the uncertainty, the Entergy executive said he remained bullish on the state’s prospects.
Among the recent investments planned for the state that give him reason for optimism are Hyundai’s planned steel mill in Ascension Parish, Shintech’s expansion in Plaquemines Parish and Shell’s plan to break ground on a new New Orleans headquarters in the planned River District neighborhood in 2027.
The Meta announcement has also helped Louisiana’s credibility with other tech and infrastructure companies, according to May.
Workers prepare for the future Meta AI data center in Holly Ridge, La., Friday, July 11, 2025. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune)
“We went from having people saying ‘What is Meta doing in Louisiana?’ to having them say, ‘Why aren’t we in Louisiana?’” May said.
Entergy is building three natural gas power plants to supply electricity to the data center, including two that are adjacent to the site in Holly Ridge and one in St. Charles Parish. Meta has agreed to pay for construction and the cost of operating the plants for 15 years.
Environmental groups and advocates for renewable energy have criticized the plan and questioned whether consumers will get hit with higher utility bills if Meta bails on the plant after 15 years.
May said he isn’t worried that will happen, and argued that Meta investments in transmission infrastructure, resilience upgrades and the plants themselves represent a benefit to customers.
“Louisiana customers will continue to get low-cost power from the plants,” even if Meta were to pull out after 15 years, May said, adding that by then, much of the grid’s infrastructure will need upgrades and that “customers will be paying for that as they would.”
Machinery moves dirt along the future site of the Meta AI data center in Holly Ridge, La., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune)
In middle Atlantic and Northern states where large data centers have been operating for years, residential customers have seen monthly utility bills go up by 20% to 30% in some cases. May said he believes that is unlikely to happen in Louisiana, where utilities are regulated.
“Those states are deregulated,” he said. “If you’re in a competitive market like that and prices are at an all-time high, it gets passed along to everyone.”
Dark future for renewables
May is concerned, however, about the future of solar projects in the state, including those in development both by Entergy and its competitors. The Trump administration, with approval from Congress, did away with several types of renewable energy tax credits created under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Though the changes were intended to bolster the traditional fossil fuel industry, energy producing states like Louisiana were also benefiting from new investments in wind and solar power.
Now, many of those projects will never come to fruition, May said.
“A lot of that stuff is not going to go because you have to have a certain amount of spend to achieve the IRA credits,” he said. “So, on solar, it will be very challenging.”
link