Graded Minimal and steady. 11 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
The 17 Dec 2025 Lightning directive lets utilities skip competitive bidding to serve large loads; three Entergy plants for Meta were approved 21 Aug 2025.
No large-load tariff exists; Meta is served under a 20-year agreement approved 21 Aug 2025 with no take-or-pay, collateral or separate rate class on record.
New Orleans barred data centers for a year from 28 Jan 2026, the only pause in force and outside the Richland and Caddo-Bossier markets.
Act 730's 20-year sales tax exemption stands; order JML 26-058 (25 Jun 2026) asks LED to condition it on power price effects, with no criteria published.
No water, air or disclosure rule is in force; on 12 Aug 2026 the PSC let Meta keep its load and jobs figures confidential.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Louisiana is among the most accommodating states for large data centers. The Public Service Commission approved three Entergy gas plants for Meta's Hyperion campus in August 2025, adopted a fast-track directive in December 2025 that drops competitive bidding for large-load supply, and is using it to review seven more plants costing over $21 billion. A 2024 law gives a 20-year sales tax exemption for projects of $200 million and 50 jobs. Pushback so far is limited: New Orleans barred data center development for a year from January 2026, a June 2026 executive order asks the economic development agency to condition the exemption on electricity price effects, consumer groups are in court over Meta's confidential load figures, and Caddo Parish is debating a pause on local tax incentives. No statewide large-load tariff or moratorium was found.
The Public Service Commission is expected to vote on the seven-plant application in Docket U-37882 on 18 November 2026, the date Entergy requested, or in December, after the November election for two open commission seats. Louisiana Economic Development's new conditions for the tax exemption were due about late September 2026 under the governor's order; no published version was found as of 23 October, and the agency has said Meta, Amazon, Applied Digital and Hut 8 already hold the exemption and may fall outside the new rules. The appeal over Meta's disclosure, filed in late September 2026, is pending in the 19th Judicial District Court. New Orleans' one-year moratorium, adopted 28 January 2026, can be extended under the city charter, and Caddo Parish's proposed two-year pause on parish tax incentives sits in committee.
No statewide moratorium, but 1 local pause is in force as of 23 October 2026, in New Orleans. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Steady. Louisiana is graded Minimal, which means few binding rules, with new incentives or fast-track permitting in force. Regulators fast-track gas plants for Meta; few obligations on developers. The outlook above says what is pending.
Louisiana sits in MISO and SPP. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
No. Louisiana's data center incentives were not pulled back in 2025 or 2026 as of 23 October 2026, though the items below show what is pending.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Louisiana scores grid connection 1, power rates 1, siting and land use 2, tax treatment 2, permits and water 1, a mean of 1.4. The most regulated line is tax treatment: Act 730's 20-year sales tax exemption stands; order JML 26-058 (25 Jun 2026) asks LED to condition it on power price effects, with no criteria published.
11 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
In late September 2026 the Alliance for Affordable Energy and the Union of Concerned Scientists asked the 19th Judicial District Court to reverse the Public Service Commission's decision to cancel a subpoena for Meta's load and jobs figures.
Source: ucs.orgOn 12 August 2026 the Public Service Commission voted 3-1 to overturn its administrative law judge, who had ordered Meta to disclose investment, permanent jobs and expected electricity demand for the Richland Parish campus.
Source: wrkf.orgIn August 2026 a commissioner proposed a two-year moratorium on parish tax benefits for new and expanded data centers, revisiting a 2025 incentive pilot. The commission sent it to committee after the parish attorney said a moratorium cannot be made by resolution.
Source: ksla.comSigned 25 June 2026. Gives Louisiana Economic Development 90 days to set new requirements for claiming the data center sales and use tax exemption; data centers that raise electricity prices across the grid should not qualify unless other benefits outweigh the increase. It does not bind the Public Service Commission or apply to Entergy's generation plans.
Source: lailluminator.comThe executive order's framework is called the Louisiana Ratepayer and Community Protection Initiative, and the economic development secretary is to write its criteria. Louisiana Economic Development said Meta (Richland Parish), Amazon (Caddo-Bossier), Applied Digital (Rapides Parish) and Hut 8 (West Feliciana) have already applied for and been granted the exemption, so the new rules may not reach them; the framework was modeled on their agreements. The report is undated.
Source: ktbs.comOn 15 April 2026 the Public Service Commission voted 4-1 to review Entergy's application, costing more than $21 billion in total, on an accelerated schedule of under eight months, without competitive bidding or an administrative law judge's recommendation. Entergy asked for a final vote on 18 November 2026; a watchdog group's August update expects it in December 2026.
Source: wrkf.orgOn 6 April 2026 the Parish Council voted 5-3 against an eight-month moratorium pending data center regulations; opponents said it would signal the parish is closed for business. The parish president introduced a data center zoning ordinance for consideration in May.
Source: heraldguide.comThe City Council voted 6-0 on 28 January 2026 to bar data center development, including server farms and crypto mining, for one year through an interim zoning district while the planning commission writes rules; the council expects the ban to become permanent and the charter allows extension. A national tracker updated 22 October 2026 lists the pause as active and extendable to two years.
Source: wwno.orgAdopted 4-1 on 17 December 2025. Utilities serving new large-load customers may skip the competitive bidding the commission normally requires for new generation. It follows Gov. Landry's 'Lightning Speed' initiative to cut red tape for economic development.
Source: eenews.netOn 21 August 2025 the Public Service Commission approved Entergy Louisiana's three gas plants, plus renewables and transmission, mainly to serve Meta's Richland Parish data center. Meta's subsidiary has a 20-year agreement; the campus is now planned to reach 5 GW by 2032.
Source: san.comExempts qualifying data center equipment and construction from state and local sales tax for projects that invest at least $200 million and create 50 permanent jobs, with the investment made between 1 July 2024 and 1 July 2029. Agreements run 20 years and can be renewed once for 10 more.
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