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Aerial rendering of the Hyperion data-center campus in Richland Parish, Louisiana
The Power Map · No. 01 — Hyperion

How private money becomesPublic Cost

The Power Map investigates in real time who’s doing what to win the arms race to, as Meta’s 2025 annual report put it, “deliver personal superintelligence for everyone.” Led by Editor in Chief Jayne Lytel, the map assembles public records on each player and uses AI data-modeling to cross-reference them, reading the filings for the relationships and patterns worth a closer look. Relationships that raise questions are not evidence of wrongdoing.

The first edition tracks Meta’s $27 billion Hyperion data center in rural Louisiana and serves as a proof of concept for building similar profiles that extend to OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle, for example. Reports update daily when new information surfaces; issue alerts take the guesswork out of what has changed in filings, public comment, approvals, denials, and related actions. The data is publicly sourced — drawn from Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign-finance filings, federal lobbying disclosures under the Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), state ethics and utility-commission records, court dockets, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and corporate registrations — with its discovery, collection, and analysis orchestrated by an open-source intelligence workforce guided by task-specific Claude skills.

Editor in Chief Jayne LytelThe Big Drop · Investigations No. 41Richland Parish, LouisianaUpdated June 29, 2026
$27B
Hyperion build
~$3.3B
State tax relief
$3.78M
Federal lobbying, 2025
23
Retained firms
20
Agencies & chambers lobbied
$19,000
To Louisiana’s governor and congressional delegation
01 — The networkdrag any node · hover a link to trace it · click to pin the source
Shell limited liability company (LLC)CompanyData centerUtilityOfficialPolitical action committee (PAC)Lobbyingprimaryreported
How to read this map

Solid lines indicate relationships involving Meta Platforms, Inc. that are documented in public records, including Federal Election Commission filings, Louisiana Ethics Administration disclosures, U.S. Senate lobbying reports, and utility-commission dockets. The lines represent primary-source evidence and are considered high confidence. Dashed lines denote relationships reported in secondary sources that have not yet been confirmed through primary documentation. For clarity, Meta’s federal lobbying network — spanning 23 firms, 18 agencies, and both chambers of Congress — is consolidated into a single node.

Meaning first — the documented record sits beneath each one
WHAT EACH RELATIONSHIP MEANS02 · Six ties, six receipts
Who’s in bed with whom, and what the paper trail saysEvery claim carries a record
Laidley LLC → Meta

THE DISGUISE

One of the world’s most valuable companies negotiated public concessions as an anonymous local developer. By the time Louisiana granted a ~$3.3 billion tax break and approved Entergy’s gas plants, officials were dealing with “Laidley LLC” — not Meta. Who sits across the table changes the deal a public body will give.

The receipt
Laidley is a Delaware special-purpose vehicle; Entergy’s own utility-commission filing names its parent as Meta Platforms, Inc. · Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) U-37425
Entergy → Hyperion

THE BILL

A regulated monopoly is building new gas-fired power for one private customer. The unresolved question — now before state regulators — is who absorbs the cost if Meta leaves — its parent guarantee, or Entergy’s household ratepayers. This is where a private data center reaches into public utility bills.

The receipt
Three gas turbines on a 15-year contract; Earthjustice asked the LPSC to investigate the financing. · Earthjustice
Meta → Gov. Jeff Landry

PROXIMITY

The official who championed the state’s data-center incentives received money from the project’s beneficiary. The map records how close the money sits to the decision. It documents proximity, not a quid pro quo.

The receipt
$12,000 direct contribution, Louisiana Ethics Administration, 2025. · Louisiana Ethics Administration
Meta PAC → Scalise & Carter

THE DELEGATION

Meta’s money also reaches the Louisiana members of Congress whose seats and committees touch energy and technology. A local project is wired to the federal officials who represent the host state.

The receipt
$4,000 to Rep. Scalise, $3,000 to Rep. Carter, FEC. · Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Meta → 23 Firms, 18 Agencies & Congress

THE SCALE

Hyperion is one node inside a national influence operation. Roughly $3.8 million a year buys access across the agencies that govern data, energy, and trade. The Louisiana deal sits inside a Washington one.

The receipt
23 retained lobbying firms reaching 18 federal agencies and both chambers, Senate LDA, 2025. · Senate LDA
Meta → Outside Counsel

THE EXPOSURE

The same company seeking public subsidies fields top-tier counsel across antitrust, product-liability, and privacy. It is the cost of operating at this scale, and a measure of the legal exposure the buildout carries.

The receipt
Counsel of record confirmed on four federal fronts via court dockets. · CourtListener
SIX TIES. SIX RECEIPTS. ZERO GUESSWORK →Proximity documented · not a quid pro quo · verify before acting
03 — Laidley LLC, the shell, traced
2024-03-15 formed as a Delaware LLC→2024-07-24 registered in Louisiana (foreign LLC)→2025-08-20 new parent Beignet Investors (DE) formed

Laidley LLC is a special-purpose vehicle — a shell with no operating history. Entergy Louisiana’s own filing to the LPSC (Docket U-37425) names its parent as Meta Platforms, Inc. In 2025 Meta restructured the holding under a new Delaware parent, Beignet Investors — formed August 20, 2025, the same day the LPSC approved Entergy’s gas plants — leaving Meta a ~20% stake, according to Earthjustice and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Meta’s Louisiana entities run on a Creole naming theme: the project codename was “Project Sucre” (French for sugar) and the new parent is “Beignet” (the New Orleans pastry). The name “Laidley” breaks pattern — a Scottish-Borders surname — and the origin of Meta’s choice is not publicly documented.

SOURCES  Entergy LPSC filing (Docket U-37425) · Earthjustice · Sherwood News · Delaware Secretary of State, Division of Corporations (entity details)
04 — The money & the recordevery figure below is a primary filing
Federal lobbying firms
Firms Meta paid to lobby the federal government, 2025 · Senate LDA registrants · lda.senate.gov
AVOQ, LLC$320,000
S-3 Group$300,000
Stewart Strategies and Solutions, LLC$240,000
Sternhell Group$240,000
Capitol Tax Partners, LLP$240,000
Harbinger Strategies, LLC$240,000
Mcginley LLC$210,000
Off Hill Strategies L.L.C.$200,000
Mindset Advocacy, LLC$200,000
Elevate Government Affairs, LLC$200,000
Jeffries Strategies LLC$180,000
Telemedia Policy Corp.$161,250
Venable LLP$160,000
Mehlman Consulting, Inc.$150,000
535 Group, LLC$120,000
Salt Point Strategies$120,000
Blue Mountain Strategies$120,000
Hollier & Associates$105,000
Mason Street Consulting, LLC$80,000
DCI Group, L.L.C.$60,000
Salinas Strategies LLC$60,000
Stanton Park Group$40,000
Thegroup DC, LLC$30,000
23 outside firms · $3,776,250 total reported, 2025
Outside counsel of record
Confirmed for the Meta party in federal litigation · Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)/RECAP via CourtListener · retrieved 2026-06-29
Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, PLLC
Antitrust · Mark C. Hansen
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Meta Platforms (monopolization)
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Antitrust appellate · James P. Rouhandeh
Meta Platforms v. FTC (D.C. Cir.)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Product-liability / social-media harm multidistrict litigation (MDL) · Richard W. Mark
Reuscher v. Meta Platforms (MDL 3047 member)
Cooley LLP
Privacy / Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) · Michael G. Rhodes
In re Facebook Biometric Information Privacy Litigation

Each firm is verified as counsel of record for Meta itself via the docket party→attorney records — one per major litigation front, not every firm on Meta’s dockets. Meta is a party in 6,900+ federal dockets. browse the full record →

SEC filings
Meta Platforms, Inc. · Central Index Key (CIK) 0001326801 · EDGAR · retrieved 2026-06-29
8-K2026-05-29
8-K2026-05-04
10-Q2026-04-30
8-K2026-04-29
DEF 14A2026-04-16
8-K2026-04-14
10-K2026-01-29
8-K2026-01-28
8-K2026-01-16
8-K2025-12-19
8-K2025-12-12
8-K2025-11-03

Lists current and most recent periodic reports. The annual 10-K and DEF 14A (proxy) name Meta’s directors, executive pay, and risk factors; 8-Ks are material events. The documents link to the SEC’s EDGAR system.

Federal agencies & congressional offices lobbied (20) — departments, agencies & both chambers of Congress
Commerce, Dept of (DOC)Defense, Dept of (DOD)Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)Education, Dept ofEnergy, Dept ofEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)Executive Office of the President (EOP)Federal Communications Commission (FCC)Federal Trade Commission (FTC)HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESHealth & Human Services, Dept of (HHS)Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS)Justice, Dept of (DOJ)Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP)Office of the Vice President of the United StatesSENATEState, Dept of (DOS)Treasury, Dept ofU.S. Trade Representative (USTR)White House Office

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