SHREVEPORT’S $6 BILLION DATA CENTER HELD UP BY MERITLESS LITIGATION

The major data center announcement on Monday was for two data centers, each representing a $6 BILLION investment.
 
The total investment of $12 BILLION will construct a date center in north Caddo near Blanchard and in north Bossier Parish near Benton.
 
A third $6 BILLION data center is planned for southwest Shreveport.
 
Litigation filed against the City of Shreveport by the Mooringsport mayor and two Shreveport citizens requests a judicial review of the Shreveport City Council’s approval of a special exception needed for the data center. The pleadings are, at best, factually unsupported and at worst, specious.
 
Questions about the developer, the end user, the projected water usage were answered at the press conference on Monday.
 
The City of Shreveport provided information at the council meeting concerning the capacity of the city’s water plant to provide water, which is withdrawn from Cross Lake, NOT Caddo Lake as the petition alleges.
 
SWEPCO provided information at the council meeting and the press conference on the grid's capacity to provide the needed electrical power and confirmed that the data center would NOT increase electricity rates.
 
A Shreveport city councilwoman, along with two Caddo commissioners, visited a state-of-the-art data center like the one to be constructed in Shreveport. All three of these elected officials stated that there was NO noise impact of the center.
 
The city’s attorney has filed into the suit record the following documents which prove, on their face, that this litigation should be dismissed at the plaintiffs’ costs:
 
1. The MPC data center file
 
2. Meeting Notice and Agenda for the MPC meeting on the data center
 
3. Minutes of the MPC data center meeting
 
4. Video of the MPC data center meeting
 
5. Appeal of MPC meeting requesting Special Use Permit
 
6. Meeting Notice and Agenda for the City Council meeting that considered the data center appeal
 
7. Minutes of the city council meeting that approved the data center
 
8. Video of the council data center meeting
 
9. Council letter approving data center.
 
Caddo District Judge Ramon Lafitte will hear the city’s arguments on March 23 to dismiss the litigation. In the meantime, the data center projects for Blanchard and Bossier Parish are proceeding at the speed of light.
 
This lawsuit is a mere bump in the road for the Shreveport data center. However, it is an unfortunate because it will cost  the city legal fees and maybe the first priority in the construction of the three data centers.