Cleco looks to fast-track new generator for data center
Cleco, an electric utility provider, is seeking fast-track approval from the Louisiana Public Service Commission for a new natural gas turbine. This project is intended to meet the significant power demands of an incoming data center located in Rapides Parish, near Boyce, Louisiana. Cleco aims to shift some of the project's costs onto the data center rather than residential customers.
New documents reveal that Cleco, a major utility provider in Central Louisiana, is actively pursuing fast-track approval from the Louisiana Public Service Commission. The company's application is for a new natural gas turbine, which is deemed essential to meet the substantial power capacity demands of a new data center currently under construction outside Boyce in Rapides Parish.
Cleco argues that while a new turbine would eventually be needed to phase out older infrastructure within the next four years regardless, building it now with the data center as a primary driver would allow the data center to bear most of the associated costs. This approach, Cleco contends, would alleviate a significant cost burden from residential customers.