Overview
- Officials and Applied Digital announced the plan at a press event on Tuesday, publicly confirming the $3.6 billion Delta Forge 1 campus for Rapides Parish.
- Delta Forge 1 is being developed for large-scale AI training and inference and site work began in January 2026 with initial operations expected to start in mid-2027.
- Louisiana Economic Development and the governor say the campus will support about 200 direct full-time jobs with average pay near $90,000 and more than 1,000 construction jobs at peak.
- Applied Digital qualified for a sales and use tax exemption created by Act 730 (2024) and Cleco is reported to be the utility provider with the company covering required power infrastructure costs.
- State leaders positioned the project as part of a broader strategy to attract AI and data-center investment to the region, noting projected local tax revenue and corporate plans for closed-loop cooling and continued community outreach.