Louisiana to build $3.6 billion AI data center campus in Rapides Parish
Applied Digital Corp. plans to develop a 300-acre AI data center campus called Delta Forge 1 in Boyce, Louisiana, with a $3.6 billion investment and operations beginning mid-2027.
The campus will create 200 permanent jobs and over 1,000 temporary construction positions at peak building. Applied Digital specializes in building data centers and provides computing infrastructure primarily for cryptocurrency companies.
Power demands and tax incentives
Delta Forge 1's initial two facilities will require 300 megawatts of electricity-roughly the summer peak load for 200,000 homes. Cleco will supply the power, though no new power plant construction has been announced.
Louisiana lawmakers enacted Act 730 in 2024, which exempts data center equipment purchases and leases from state sales tax. Applied Digital will benefit from this carve-out.
Part of broader expansion
The announcement follows other major data center projects in Louisiana:
- Meta's $30 billion Hyperion data center in Richland Parish
- Hut 8's $10 billion AI campus in West Feliciana Parish
- Amazon's $12 billion campuses planned for Caddo and Bossier parishes
Site development for Delta Forge 1 began in January 2026.
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