AI may prolong our reliance on natural gas for many years ahead.

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The AI data center also promises to transform the state’s energy future. Stretching in length for more than a mile, it will be Meta’s largest in the world, having an enormous appetite for electricity and requiring two gigawatts for computation alone (electricity for cooling and other building needs will add to that). When operational, it will be akin to adding a sizable city to the region’s grid— one that never sleeps and demands a steady, uninterrupted flow of electricity.

To power the data center, Entergy plans to invest $3.2 billion in constructing three large natural-gas power plants with a total capacity of 2.3 gigawatts and upgrading the grid to accommodate the anticipated increase in demand. In its filing to the state’s power regulatory agency, Entergy acknowledged that natural-gas plants “emit significant amounts of CO2” but stated that this energy source was the only affordable option to swiftly meet the 24-7 electricity demand from the large data center.

Meta indicated it will collaborate with Entergy to eventually bring online at least 1.5 gigawatts of new renewable energy sources, including solar, though specific projects and timelines for those investments have not yet been finalized. Meanwhile, the new natural-gas plants, expected to become operational starting in 2028 and projected to have a typical lifespan of around 30 years, will further entrench the state’s reliance on fossil fuels.

The development has garnered attention from Congress; recently, Sheldon Whitehouse, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, sent a letter to Meta addressing the company’s plan to power its data center with “new and unabated natural gas generation,” and noted that the commitments to offset emissions “by funding carbon capture and a solar project are vague and offer little reassurance.”

The reliance on natural gas to meet the increasing demand for power from AI is not limited to Louisiana. The fossil fuel remains the primary source of electricity generation in the U.S., with large natural-gas plants being constructed nationwide to supply electricity to emerging AI data centers. While some climate advocates hope that cleaner renewable power will eventually take precedence, the surging demand from data centers is diminishing the prospects for a shift away from natural gas anytime soon.

The reality is that natural gas is often seen as “the default” to handle the soaring power demand from AI data centers, according to David Victor, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego, and co-director of its Deep Decarbonization Project. He explains, “The natural-gas plant is the thing that you know how to build, you know what it’s going to cost (more or less), and you know how to scale it and get it approved.” Even for AI companies striving for low emissions profiles, the use of gas remains a necessity.

This preference for natural gas is particularly evident in the American South, where several large gas-fired plants are in development in states like Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Utilities in these states are planning approximately 20 gigawatts of new natural-gas power plants over the next 15 years, as per a recent report. The demand—especially in Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia—is driven significantly by data centers, which account for around 65 to 85% of projected load growth in these states.

Greg Buppert, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, argues, “It’s a long-term commitment in absolutely the wrong direction.” He emphasizes that if all proposed gas plants in the South are constructed within the next 15 years, “we’ll just have to accept that we won’t meet emissions reduction goals.”