West Feliciana Landed a $10B Data Center Without an NDA. Can Other Parishes Copy It?

Can a parish land a multibillion-dollar data center and still tell residents what it agreed to? West Feliciana Parish says yes, and its parish president is pitching the deal as a model.

On Sept. 22, WAFB reported that Parish President Kenny Havard negotiated directly with Hut 8, the company developing a data center near St. Francisville, without signing a nondisclosure agreement and without going through Louisiana Economic Development's typical process. Two days later he hosted other parish presidents to talk about how they could do the same.

Why NDAs became the issue

Secrecy has become a central political question in Louisiana's AI buildout. At Tulane's Future of Energy Forum in late September, Public Service Commissioner JP Coussan said NDAs have "struck a chord" with voters, though he defended their use, according to NOLA.com and The Advocate. In the Meta case, the commission voted in August to keep Meta's job, investment and power-demand records out of public view. (See our guide to the Entergy/Meta hearing.)

Havard's argument is that public money and public land deserve public process. "When you are dealing with tax dollars, when you are dealing with selling parish land and ordinances," he told WAFB, before urging other leaders: "Don't be pressured by some outside entity, somebody from Baton Rouge telling you the deal."

What the deal includes

According to WAFB's Sept. 22 report:

• Investment: $10 billion.
• Jobs: more than 175 permanent positions.
• Tax revenue: about $90 million a year, with portions distributed as tax credits to property owners.
• Water: a closed-loop cooling system that does not draw from underground aquifers.

Hut 8 has explained the water system in more detail. Cooling water recirculates for four to seven years before it is replaced, and water for restrooms and sinks is trucked in, WBRZ reported. Havard also told WBRZ the site sits next to a paper mill, about two and a half miles from the nearest house.

Who is Hut 8?

Hut 8 started as a bitcoin miner, a company that runs specialized computers to validate transactions on the Bitcoin network and earn new coins. Like several miners, it has moved into AI infrastructure, since both businesses need large amounts of cheap power and big industrial sites.

The West Feliciana site is Hut 8's River Bend campus. In December 2025, the company announced a 15-year lease with Fluidstack for 245 megawatts of IT capacity, valued at $7.0 billion over the base term, with Google providing a financial backstop for the lease. Fluidstack also has a right of first offer on up to 1,000 more megawatts. Entergy Louisiana is the utility partner, and the first data hall is targeted for the second quarter of 2027. WBRZ has identified the AI company Anthropic as the facility's end user and reported in May that Hut 8 sold $3.25 billion in bonds to help finance the 611-acre project.

That history is part of why Louisiana's crypto policy and its AI economy keep showing up in the same stories. The infrastructure is often the same.

Why the numbers don't all match

If you've seen different figures for this project, you're not imagining it. Here is what different sources have reported, as of Oct. 4:

Some of this is normal. Totals change as phases are added, and companies, parishes and reporters count "direct," "indirect" and "construction" jobs differently. But it is a good example of why residents should ask for the signed agreements, not just the announcements.

Can other parishes copy it?

Maybe, with caveats. West Feliciana had some things going for it that many parishes don't:

• An industrial site already next to heavy industry, away from neighborhoods.
• A developer that was willing to be named early. Some companies won't negotiate without an NDA, so going without one may mean losing some projects.
• Utility capacity. Entergy committed 330 megawatts of utility capacity to River Bend, according to Hut 8. Power availability, not paperwork, is often the deciding factor.

The coverage we reviewed did not publish the deal's full tax terms or the parish's agreements with Hut 8, so we can't yet say how the $90 million estimate was calculated. We'll link the documents if the parish releases them.

Questions a parish council can ask before any data center vote

1. Will the company be named publicly before the council votes?
2. What is the tax structure, and is the revenue estimate based on the full build or on phase one?
3. Where does the cooling water come from, and where does it go?
4. Who pays for new power lines and substations: the company, the utility's other customers or both?
5. How are "permanent jobs" defined, and is there any clawback if targets aren't met?

Hut 8 and the parish have scheduled a "First Look" event for the project on Oct. 5, WAFB reported. We'll be watching for answers to these questions.

• AI
• Energy
• Crypto
• Baton Rouge