Meta Expands Largest Data Center to 5 Gigawatts, Raises Investment Above $50 Billion

Meta announced Monday that it will expand its Hyperion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana, to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity. The company said total investment in the project now exceeds $50 billion. The facility was first announced in October and had been projected to cost more than $27 billion as part of a joint venture with Blue Owl Capital.

The expansion will support Meta's plans for artificial intelligence development, with the data centers used for training and maintaining AI models.

Meta stated that it is paying the full costs of energy, water, and related infrastructure for the project. The company said it reached an agreement earlier this year with Entergy Louisiana under which Meta covers the full cost of service. The company said the partnership is projected to save Entergy Louisiana customers more than $2 billion over the next 20 years.

Community leaders praised the project in an announcement by Meta.

Sheldon Jones, superintendent of the Richland Parish School District, said the project produced a $50,000 bonus to teachers from tax revenues. A local coffee shop owner said daily customers rose to 130 from 40 before the project. Other data center projects in Louisiana face different local responses. The New Orleans city council passed a one-year ban on new infrastructure buildouts.