Published 3:36 pm Friday, September 11, 2026
By Pamela Sleezer
A Missouri-based company has confirmed it is considering building a data center near Coffey Road in Moss Bluff.
Representatives for Azimuth Renewables, headquartered in St. Louis, confirmed that the company is considering building a data center on 1,100 acres of land that it has an option to purchase.
Representatives said plans are still in the early stages and that nothing firm has been decided yet.
The news comes as Moss Bluff residents and local elected officials have launched a firm opposition to a proposed solar farm in the same area.
California-based Orion Renewable Energy Group intends to request a variance from the Calcasieu Parish Planning and Zoning Board to build its proposed 4,700-acre solar farm that would include up to 2.5 million solar panels.
The proposed site is currently zoned as Agricultural and would require the committee approve a variance to allow industrial development, which is exactly what Azimuth officials will have to do if they choose to move forward with a data center.
While there has been no proven connection between the solar farm and data center, Louisiana State Rep. Brett Geymann (R-Lake Charles) says the news of the considered data center has added fueled to the fight against the solar farm.
“It absolutely has elevated the opposition to (the solar farm), because that would almost certainly open a gateway for the data center, if it happens,” he said.
This week, State Rep. Dewith Carrier (R-Oakdale), Chuck Owen (R-Rosepine), and Sen.  Jeremy Stine (R-Lake Charles) added their signatures to a letter to the planning and zoning board members imploring them to deny the rezoning variance request.
“This decision by the board will have consequences for decades and will set a precedent for future industrial variance applications — like a data center,” Geymann said. “Once you let one industrial development in the neighborhood, it will be hard to deny any others that come behind it.”
Sources tell the American Press Orion’s variance request could go before the planning and zoning panel as early as November.

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