(The Center Square) — Louisiana utility regulators have agreed to accelerate their review of a sweeping Cleco Power proposal to supply electricity to Applied Digital’s $3.6 billion data center in Rapides Parish, shortening a regulatory process that Cleco says must conclude by March to keep a key power contract in place.

The Louisiana Public Service Commission unanimously approved Cleco’s request Wednesday to move the case forward without requiring a final recommendation from an administrative law judge before commissioners act.

The decision does not amount to final approval of Cleco’s proposed natural gas generation, transmission infrastructure or contracts with Applied Digital.

An evidentiary hearing will still be held before the commission decides the merits of the application.

Cleco’s pending application is one of the first major cases to proceed under the commission’s “Lightning Initiative,” an expedited regulatory pathway adopted in December for new power resources associated with large industrial loads.

The docket includes Cleco’s electric service agreement with Applied Digital, a temporary capacity agreement with Tenaska Frontier Partners, transmission and interconnection work, new natural gas generation and related ratemaking treatment.

Applied Digital is developing its Delta Forge 1 artificial intelligence data center campus near Boyce. The company announced the $3.6 billion project in May, with two initial facilities totaling 300 megawatts and operations expected to begin in mid-2027. Louisiana Economic Development says the project is expected to employ about 200 workers permanently and more than 1,000 during peak construction.

Cleco’s regulatory filing puts the eventual electric load at roughly 430 megawatts by 2028, making it the largest single customer load in the utility’s history. Cleco has argued that serving the project requires both temporary purchased capacity and longer-term investments in transmission and generation.

Cleco filed the application in July, but the parties and administrative law judge had been unable to settle on a schedule that would both provide sufficient time for review and allow the commission to meet Cleco’s deadline.

Cleco representatives said the parties were prepared to agree to a procedural schedule immediately if commissioners approved the expedited process.

The company also told commissioners that the costs of the temporary capacity agreement would be borne entirely by the Applied Digital customer rather than existing Cleco ratepayers.

That distinction has become central to the broader debate over Louisiana’s surge in electricity demand from data centers.

Cleco says Applied Digital will directly fund project-specific infrastructure and that revenues from the customer will help pay system costs that otherwise would fall on existing customers. The utility has separately maintained that it needs additional long-term generation even without the data center because of aging generating units and future system requirements.

Critics argue those two claims warrant greater scrutiny before regulators waive normal procedures.

Chris Justin, a licensed professional engineer and former candidate for the Commission, urged commissioners Wednesday not to use the expedited process for Cleco’s proposed gas generation.

“If that is the case, and Cleco wants this to be a system resource primarily paid for by ratepayers, we should not waive competitive bidding,” Justen said, referring to Cleco’s contention that the generation would be needed regardless of Applied Digital.

He urged the commission to leave the case with the administrative law judge for a full recommendation, warning regulators against creating a future cost shift to existing customers.

The Lightning Initiative permits the commission to waive its normal market-based procurement requirements when certain conditions are met, including a signed long-term electric service agreement, a demonstrated capacity need and customer revenues sufficient to cover at least half of the fixed costs associated with the requested capacity during the agreement.

The policy calls for qualifying cases to be processed quickly enough for commissioners to vote within eight months, while preserving the commission’s authority to determine whether the investment is prudent and in the public interest.

Wednesday’s action moves Cleco closer to a final decision but stops short of making one.