As Landry celebrates data centers, New Orleans set to restrict them

(The Center Square) – New Orleans will take a major step next week toward deciding whether and where large data centers can be built in the city months after officials temporarily halted development of the facilities.

Conversely, Gov. Jeff Landry and other state officials spent Monday celebrating Meta’s Richland Parish facility, a contrast illustrating the ongoing clash between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

“It used to be, the saying was, ‘Where goes New Orleans, so goes the state.’ Let me tell you what happened today: that has changed,” Landry told reporters, referring to Meta’s $50 billion commitment in Richland Parish.

Just minutes before, Landry had stood alongside Meta executives to announce an expansion of the company’s Hyperion data center in Richland Parish.

Landry was also joined by Richland Parish teachers, some of whom appeared in a promotional video produced by Louisiana Economic Development in which those teachers praised Meta for their recent $50,000 bonus.<...