Hyperion is Meta’s AI data center campus at Holly Ridge in Richland Parish, Louisiana, announced with Louisiana Economic Development on Dec. 4, 2024, as a $10 billion, 4 million-square-foot project with site work starting that month and construction expected to run through 2030. On Aug. 20, 2025, the Louisiana Public Service Commission voted 4-1 to approve Entergy Louisiana’s settlement to build three combined-cycle gas plants for the site — two in Richland Parish due in late 2028 and one at the Waterford site in St. Charles Parish due in late 2029 — plus new transmission, and authorized up to 1,500 megawatts of solar through an expedited certification. On Oct. 21, 2025, Meta and funds managed by Blue Owl Capital formed a joint venture to develop and own the campus, with the Blue Owl funds holding 80 percent and Meta 20 percent, funding pro rata shares of about $27 billion in estimated development costs, with Meta as the campus lessee. Entergy broke ground on the two Richland Parish plants, including the Franklin Farms Power Station, on Dec. 1, 2025. On July 13, 2026, Meta and the state said the campus would grow to nearly 10 million square feet and 5 gigawatts of IT capacity at an investment of more than $50 billion, with about 7,500 workers at peak construction, 1,000 operational jobs, more than $1.6 billion in contracts to Louisiana businesses to date and $215 million for Entergy’s bill-assistance and energy-efficiency programs.

The expansion depends on a second Entergy Louisiana power buildout, filed with the commission on March 25, 2026, docketed as U-37882 under the state’s Lightning Directive and announced March 27: seven 754-megawatt combined-cycle gas units totaling 5,278 megawatts, three battery storage projects, a 150-mile 500-kilovolt line from Richland Parish to St. Landry Parish with further 500-kV and 230-kV lines, and an output increase at the Waterford 3 nuclear plant. Entergy says Meta will pay the full cost of service and projects about $2 billion in savings for other customers over 20 years. On April 15, 2026, the commission voted 4-1 to set a Lightning Directive schedule that puts the application before the commission at its Dec. 16, 2026, business and executive session, with the Administrative Hearings Division compiling the record for de novo review and no formal recommendation from the administrative law judge. The Alliance for Affordable Energy, Union of Concerned Scientists and Sierra Club intervened; the Sierra Club’s August testimony asked the commission to reject the plan or restructure it so Meta carries 100 percent of its fuel costs, the full cost of the associated transmission line and the stranded-asset risk if Meta leaves before the plants are paid off. On Aug. 12, 2026, the commission voted 3-1 to vacate a subpoena the groups had obtained for Meta’s job and electricity-load calculations. Entergy filed notice of a Sept. 25 term sheet reached with commission staff on Sept. 28, and the parties’ joint prehearing statement set a three-day evidentiary hearing before the administrative law judge to begin Oct. 7. Separately, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality held an Oct. 1 public hearing at the Rayville Civic Center on the proposed air permits for Entergy’s Richland Parish 3 & 4 Power Station, with comments due Oct. 5; the EPA’s review periods on the Title V permits for both the Richland Parish 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 stations ended Oct. 5, with Dec. 4 public-petition deadlines. The Sierra Club has asked LDEQ to reclassify the data center’s own air permit, issued to Laidley LLC, as a major source.