The New York Times published an examination of how Meta secured state and local concessions for a $50 billion data center in Richland Parish, an impoverished farming area in northeast Louisiana. According to the reporting, in April 2024 then-revenue secretary Richard Nelson, acting on instructions from Gov. Jeff Landry, asked Republican state Rep. Chris Turner to repurpose his bill — originally a tax rebate for fiber-optic equipment — into a rebate for data center equipment, without disclosing the reason. The revised bill passed the state House less than two months later. Planners say the project, the largest development in Louisiana's history, could cover roughly six square miles and consume about seven times as much energy as the city of New Orleans.