NEW ORLEANS — Huge data centers have been considered a gift for some and a danger for others, and those issues played a part in annual conference local leaders attended last week.
Iberville Parish Government joined in a gathering of elected and appointed officials from other parishes, counties and boroughs this week from across the nation for the 2026 NaCO Conference.
Massive data centers — including those planned for Richland and West Feliciana. parishes — have become an issue of concern for residents in other states.
Most ordinances address the decibel levels for those facilities, but one other factor has not yet been discussed, Deputy Chief Operating Officer Kyle Grace said.
"There are noise needs to be looked in regard to protection of livestock and the safety of pets and animals because we can't hear it, but the animals can," he said. "A lot of dogs, and cats, and just feral hogs, which is probably your thing, but a lot of those animals are being affected by the frequency. The high pitch frequency, that's not audible to humans, but it is very much so audible to animals.
They can hear it, but we can't."
Water supply from underground terminals have also posed a concern at such sites.
While it may not pose harm in areas surrounded by waterways, the more remote areas are not so lucky.
"It's advantageous to where we are on the east or west of the river here in Iberville Parish, because we're right adjacent to the river," Grace said. "But the tunneling that they have to do to get that water to the actual terminus to be used by the data centers is something that needs to be looked at, as well."
Officials also held sessions on what local and parish/county government agencies need to know need to know what they should look out for in those circumstances.
Iberville needs a proactive approach on how it could possibly protect itself with ordinances to ensure more leverage if one such facility comes to the parish.
The matter has already become a focal point of discussion in parishes and counties, and Iberville needs to put itself in position to know as much as possible on the facilities and their effects, Grace said.
"You don't know what you don't know until the problems are there and become that of the constituents, he said. "It's the next wave, as we've seen with solar farms and battery facilities.
"This is the next shoe to drop when you're talking about major industrial/commercial infrastructure because this is what technology demands — storage and centers to compute these massive amounts of information."
The windfalls have been huge such for the north Louisiana parish of Richland received for schoolteachers through the $12 billion Meta facility under construction in its area.
At the same time, potential negatives exist.
"We want to get as much information as possible and be as transparent as possible," Grace said. "We don't to spring anything on the residents or caught off guard when these people come knocking on our doors and us not having rules and regulations to protect our people.
"We don't want to close ourselves to business, but at the same time we want to protect our landowners and weigh out their rights. If we don't have rules and regulations by way of ordinance, we become susceptible to just being the referee, and we don't want that, either."
This article originally appeared on Plaquemine Post South: Officials discuss effect of data centers at conference in New Orleans