About 100 people crowded into the Jena community center this week to confront Entergy over a proposed 500-kilovolt transmission line that could cut through farms, timberland and one of Louisiana's most ecologically significant lakes on its way to feed Meta's massive new data center. The line, part of Entergy's West Fork Creek to Boeuf 500kV project, is meant to deliver power to Meta's Hyperion data center under construction near Rayville — a facility Meta describes as a $50 billion investment expected to deliver 5 gigawatts of compute capacity.
The proposed route would stretch through Avoyelles, Rapides, LaSalle, Caldwell and Richland parishes, according to The Richland Beacon-News, with a right of way about 250 feet wide. But as CenlaNow reports, the transmission line plan remains unfinalized — Entergy has fixed the beginning and ending substations needed to connect to other lines but has not settled the route in between.
A Coalition Forms After Surveyors Show Up Unannounced
Dustin McAnn, who founded the Louisiana Landowners Coalition, says he first learned about the proposed line's route when surveyors appeared on his own property. The coalition filed an Aug. 27 petition opposing the project with the Louisiana Public Service Commission, asking regulators to require a route that causes the least possible damage to private property and pushing Entergy to use existing utility corridors and commercial timberland instead of condemning farms and residences.
Entergy began supporting studies, surveys, soil borings and easement acquisitions in 2026, with construction slated to start in 2028 and the line scheduled to enter service in late 2031. The utility says it must still consider alternate routes before the plan is finalized. As reported by KALB, at least 70% of landowners projected to be affected had already signed survey agreements as of the Jena meeting, while roughly 30% had not signed them.
Catahoula Lake and Tribal Land in the Crosshairs
Among the most sensitive stretches of the proposed corridor is Catahoula Lake, which sits in LaSalle and Rapides parishes and is classified as Louisiana's largest freshwater body and a Ramsar wetland of international importance. The proposed route would cross about 2.5 miles and roughly 76 acres of the lake, which has an ancient cypress fringe and has yielded spear points dating back 10,000 years.
The route may also cross land belonging to the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, though the tribe has not taken a formal position on the project. Julie Wilkerson asked Entergy to consult the Jena Band before making decisions concerning the sovereign nation, according to the seed reporting carried by New Orleans CityBusiness.
Landowners Describe Personal Stakes
Jimmy Nugent, who owns 160 acres of hardwood timber, says the proposed route would cut straight through his property. Danielle LeBouef, who owns rural land near the route, raised concerns about pesticides and Entergy crews affecting her sheep and property, noting that Entergy uses pesticides to control vegetation growth around its equipment.
State Rep. Mike Johnson, who represents Louisiana House District 27 in Rapides Parish, said Louisiana law requires a project to be public-use and necessary before expropriation can proceed, and that landowner inconvenience must factor into that determination. Article I, Section 4 of the Louisiana Constitution treats public-purpose and necessity as judicial questions.
Entergy's Timeline and Its Case for the Project
Larry Hand, Entergy's vice president of regulatory and public affairs, said the company should consider all other options before settling on a final path. Entergy told KALB it is legally obligated to negotiate in good faith with every landowner, and that while the line is largely intended to serve Meta's data center, it would also address broader infrastructure needs as more data centers are built across Louisiana. The utility added that Meta has a 20-year contract for the current project and that Louisiana customers would not pay for the line during that period.
Entergy plans to send initial offer letters to landowners in November, with negotiations continuing through June 2027 and final offer letters going out between December 2026 and September 2027. If agreements are not reached, the company could begin expropriation proceedings sometime between December 2027 and June 2028. The Louisiana Public Service Commission is expected to vote on the project in December.
A Larger Pattern Playing Out Statewide
The Jena dispute echoes a similar fight unfolding near a new Entergy substation in Ouachita Parish, where, according to nola.com, the Perry family is suing Entergy over whether the utility can use eminent domain to acquire their land, asking courts to block the expropriation outright. That report notes most landowners elsewhere along Entergy's planned corridor have settled after consultants offered buyouts, while several dozen owners across at least 15 tracts are still taking the matter to court.
Entergy Louisiana has outlined plans for roughly 240 miles of new 500-kilovolt transmission lines connecting south Louisiana to north Louisiana and Arkansas, alongside seven new natural-gas-fueled power plants totaling more than 5,200 megawatts, framing the buildout as a source of thousands of construction jobs between 2026 and 2031. Nationally, the fight in LaSalle Parish fits a broader trend: PBS News reports there are more than 3,000 data centers in the U.S. and another 1,500 in development, with facilities accounting for more than 4% of the nation's total electricity use in 2024 — a surge that has pushed power companies in states including Georgia and Pennsylvania to pursue eminent domain for similar projects.
