Attorney Susan Stevens Miller said the agreement would give nonprofit groups access to confidential materials during proceedings involving the Richland Data Center.
Entergy Louisiana has agreed to give nonprofit groups access to confidential materials during the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s review of Entergy’s proposal to build natural gas plants to power a new Meta data center.
The Sept. 4 agreement between Entergy and the New Orleans-based Alliance for Affordable Energy and the Union of Concerned Scientists caps a dispute over the groups’ access to information they say is needed to protect consumers from future rate hikes resulting from the electricity needs of the Meta data center project in Richland Parish.
A judge in the commission’s Administrative Hearings Division last month refused to stop a move by the nonprofits to subpoena the production of Meta documents related to the data center project. That opinion, however, is now moot in light of the new agreement on what Entergy has labeled attorney’s eyes only (AEO) information, according to the nonprofit groups’ attorney, Susan Stevens Miller of Earthjustice.
As a result of the agreement, seven representatives of the two nonprofit groups will now be able to take part in hearings in which AEO information and documents are discussed and to review testimony, discovery responses and pleadings submitted on behalf of the nonprofits. The seven designees will be able to inspect such documents at the Entergy offices in New Orleans during business hours Monday through Friday, according to the agreement.
Stevens Miller said Entergy’s labeling of AEO materials represented a heightened level of confidentiality that was unusual.
“Now (the designated representatives for the nonprofits) will be able to see it under certain restrictions,” she told The Louisiana Record. “... But they still can’t see and review documents while sitting in their offices.”
The transparency procedures will be in place until the case is over – that is, until commissioners approve or disapprove Entergy’s application for the power plants, according to Stevens Miller, who said some hearings for the application will take place in October.
“No notes, recordings, photographs, copies or other transcription or reproduction of AEO materials will be permitted during the in camera inspection (at the New Orleans offices),” the agreement states.
Previous restrictions on confidential materials had prevented representatives of the nonprofits from seeing important material involving the agreement between Entergy and Meta, Stevens Miller said.
“They will at least be able to see the information that all the other parties have been able to see,” she said. “... They have to go to Entergy's offices to view this information. That's the clunky part of it."
Previously, the nonprofit groups had sought the release of data about the number of permanent jobs the data center would generate as well as electricity load information and access to certain communications between the utility and Meta.
Meta has reported that the Richland Data Center would cost $50 billion and result in 7,500 construction jobs and about 1,000 permanent positions.
The nonprofits have said Entergy misled the public about past energy projects in Louisiana. They pointed to its previous plans for the solid-fuel Little Gypsy Repowering Project, which was abandoned and “left ratepayers with a $200M bill.”
But Entergy contends the Richland project would bring many benefits, including Meta’s promise to pay about 10% of Entergy Louisiana’s current storm and resiliency charges. This will reduce costs for customers, the utility said.
