Two environmental groups have filed motions to block a utility connection for Meta's proposed 2GW artificial intelligence data center in Louisiana.

The motions filed by the Alliance for Affordable Energy and the Union of Concerned Scientists with the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) are attempting to block US utility Entergy from building three gas power plants to serve the data center.

Meta unveiled plans for the data center late last year. As part of the project proposal, Entergy submitted a plan to build three combined-cycle combustion turbines with a combined capacity of 2,260MW, two substations, six customer-owned substations, 100 miles of 500kV transmission lines, and eight new 230kV transmission lines.

The cost estimations for the power plant build-out are around $3.2 billion, and the total cost of the data center project is estimated at $10 billion.

Pending regulatory approval, the new generators are expected to come online between 2028 and 2029.

In the motion, as reported by Kpel965, the groups contend that Entergy did not follow the correct procedure when proposing the new gas-fired plants, which could result in significant costs for ratepayers.

"This is a real problem from our perspective for ratepayers because we effectively have to take it on faith that Entergy has found the least cost option that will serve their customers," Logan Burke, the executive director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, told The Advocate.

Meta has offered to offset most of the costs for Entergy's customers, with the company set to pay the full annual revenue for the plants for 15 years. The groups contend that Entergy did not offer the most cost-effective option for ratepayers.

As part of the agreement, Entergy received an exemption from regulators to build the new power plants to directly serve the data center. However, the groups claim that Entergy's plan does not qualify for an exemption, and they are asking an administrative judge and the PSC to review it.

The group's goal is to "determine the impact on ratepayers," they say, though they also believe that "there is every reason to believe the project will impact ratepayers even if Meta does not terminate early and re-signs a new agreement when the agreement’s first term ends."

If the gas power plants are delayed, this could ultimately impact Meta’s timeline and lead to much longer lead times for the data center to achieve energization.