Data center siting snapshot: Richland Parish, Louisiana

Line miles are measured from the archived HIFLD Transmission Lines layer inside the Census county boundary. Mapped lines are not available capacity.

What the public record shows

The archived HIFLD map records approximately 16.1 miles of 230 kV-and-above transmission line within Richland Parish, all at 500 kV or higher ^[1]. An additional 53.7 miles of 115–161 kV line are mapped in the county ^[2]. Entergy Louisiana is the owner of record with the most mapped 115 kV+ line miles ^[3]. The dataset lacks a substation layer and does not map named line endpoints touching 230 kV+ lines inside the county, so substation presence cannot be confirmed from this record ^[4]. Retail electric utilities with mapped service territory covering part of the county include Entergy Louisiana and Northeast Louisiana Power Cooperative, though these boundaries are approximate ^[5].

As of 2026-11-09, no county- or city-level data center moratorium or ordinance is on record for Richland Parish ^[6]. At the state level, Executive Order JML 26-058 is in force ^[7]. SB79 classifies data center construction and operation as an industrial area and allows cooperative agreements for required services ^[8]. HB827 created a sales and use tax rebate framework for qualifying data center facilities and equipment ^[9]. Several proposed bills failed, including HB1206, which would have defined data centers at 100 MW or more and required water permits and public hearings ^[10]. HB922, which would have barred utilities from recovering data-center-related costs from household customers, also failed ^[11]. HCR61, which would have created a task force to study interagency consultation for data centers, failed as well ^[12].

Drafted by our local model from the numbered facts below, then checked sentence by sentence by a second model and a rules-based check.

Data center rules on record

Rule records come from The MW Desk legislation tracker, which includes rows from the Moratorium Nation dataset by Michael J. Bommarito (CC BY 4.0). Statuses change; confirm with the jurisdiction's own record.

Utilities on record

Entergy Louisiana, Northeast Louisiana Power Cooperative. (HIFLD/EIA-861 territory polygons; approximate and often overlapping.)

Sources

1. [1] The archived HIFLD map shows about 16.1 miles of 230 kV-and-above transmission line inside Richland Parish, LA: 16.1 miles at 500 kV or more, 0.0 miles at 345 kV and 0.0 miles at 230 kV. Source: HIFLD Transmission Lines (archived by SeerAI, CC BY 4.0)
2. [2] The same map shows about 53.7 miles of 115–161 kV line in the county. Source: HIFLD Transmission Lines (archived by SeerAI, CC BY 4.0)
3. [3] Owners of record with the most mapped 115 kV+ line miles in the county: Entergy Louisiana. Source: HIFLD Transmission Lines (archived by SeerAI, CC BY 4.0)
4. [4] Substation data not available in this dataset for this county: the dataset has no substation layer, and no named line endpoints touching 230 kV+ lines (the proxy used for substations) are mapped inside the county. This does not mean there are no substations. Source: HIFLD Transmission Lines (archived by SeerAI, CC BY 4.0)
5. [5] Retail electric utilities whose mapped service territory covers part of the county include: Entergy Louisiana, Northeast Louisiana Power Cooperative. Territory boundaries are approximate. Source: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (EIA-861 based; archived by SeerAI, CC BY 4.0)
6. [6] Our records hold no county- or city-level data center moratorium or ordinance for Richland Parish as of 2026-11-09. Source: The MW Desk legislation tracker
7. [7] Louisiana state/utility level, Louisiana: Executive Order JML 26-058 (Ratepayer and Community Protection). Status: in force, dated 2026-06-25. Source: Louisiana Executive Order JML 26-058: Ratepayer and Community Protection criteria for data center certifications
8. [8] Louisiana state/utility level, Louisiana: SB79 (2025 RS), Act 36 (Explicitly classified construction and operation of data centers and associated commercial operations as an industrial area; allowed industrial areas to use cooperative agreements to provide required services). Status: enacted, dated 2025-06-04. Source: SB79 (2025 Regular Session) - Louisiana State Legislature bill information, Act 36
9. [9] Louisiana state/utility level, Louisiana: HB827 (2024 RS), Act 730 (Created state and local sales and use tax rebate framework for qualifying data center facilities and equipment; Governor's office identified Act 730 as the incentive expected to support Meta's Richland Parish project). Status: enacted, dated 2024-06-19. Source: HB827 (2024 Regular Session) - Louisiana State Legislature bill information, Act 730
10. [10] Louisiana state/utility level, Louisiana: HB1206 (2026 RS) (Would define data centers at 100 MW or more, require water permits for facilities exceeding 100 million gallons per year, require quarterly water-use reports, require parish notice and public hearings before permits, and assign unique identifiers to data center permits). Status: failed, dated 2026-04-28. Source: HB1206 (2026 Regular Session) - Louisiana State Legislature bill information
11. [11] Louisiana state/utility level, Louisiana: HB922 (2026 RS) (Would define data centers at 50 MW or more of new or expanded electric demand and bar electric utilities from recovering data-center-related costs from household customers). Status: failed, dated 2026-04-21. Source: HB922 (2026 Regular Session) - Louisiana State Legislature bill information
12. [12] Louisiana state/utility level, Louisiana: HCR61 (2025 RS) (Would create a special task force to study interagency consultation for data centers and natural resource planning, including water and energy impacts). Status: failed, dated 2025-06-09. Source: HCR61 (2025 Regular Session) - Louisiana State Legislature bill information