New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno is coming out swinging against a large data center proposed for New Orleans East, lining up with neighbors who say the project would drain local resources and reshape the feel of their community. The facility is planned for land near the Interstate 10 and Read Boulevard corridor, and word of the idea has already stirred swift and vocal opposition in the area, according to WWL-TV.
In a video posted Jan. 25, Moreno said she was blindsided by the proposal and only found out about it in the paper. “The first I heard of the project was in a newspaper article,” she said in the clip. Her comments and the social media video were first reported by WWL-TV.
What the proposal would require
The plan for the site near Interstate 10 and Read Boulevard cannot move forward without a rezoning and several special approvals. According to city records, the rezoning and permitting process would run through the City of New Orleans planning docket and the Department of Safety and Permits before any construction could begin. Projects of this size also raise big infrastructure questions, since large data centers can strain the power grid and require expensive transmission upgrades, as reported by New Orleans CityBusiness.
Neighbors and outreach
Many nearby residents say they would rather see single-family homes built on the property and have flagged worries about noise, bright lights, heavier traffic and potential hits to property values. The company behind the data center invited neighbors to a meeting, but when reporters tried to follow up, WWL-TV found the listed phone number disconnected and emails going unanswered. A petition on Change.org urges officials to stop the rezoning and argues that the broader New Orleans East community was not properly notified about the project.
Why this matters beyond New Orleans
Louisiana has been aggressively courting data center projects, and state regulators along with utilities have moved to fast-track power infrastructure to serve them. Those broader trends, including Entergy filings for major new transmission work, help explain why residents and city leaders are zeroed in on energy and water demands for this project, as outlined by New Orleans CityBusiness…