(The Center Square) - Energy Transfer announced Tuesday it will build a 215-mile pipeline crossing parts of eastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi that will supply natural gas to electric utilities, liquefied natural gas export terminals and AI data center hubs, although a final route has not yet been determined.

The $1.6 billion South Mississippi Pipeline would originate at the Perryville natural gas hub in Richland Parish, Louisiana, just miles from Meta’s $50 billion Hyperion AI data center now under construction in Rayville.

From Perryville, the pipeline will carry 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas across three Louisiana parishes and up to 10 counties in Mississippi before connecting with the Florida Gas Transmission network about 40 miles northwest of Mobile, Alabama, according to a statement released during Energy Transfer’s third-quarter earnings call.

The Florida Gas Transmission system, which is jointly owned by Energy Transfer and Kinder Morgan, connects to electric utilities and industrial users across the Sunshine State.

The project will “give shippers greater access to natural gas from multiple basins across the southeastern U.S.,” according to Energy Transfer.

Energy Transfer launched a binding “open season” to secure firm commitments from companies wanting to move natural gas to south Mississippi or other parts of the southeastern United States. While the company’s initial designs would accommodate gas flows of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day, the pipeline’s ultimate capacity and diameter will be finalized between 36 and 44 inches when the open season concludes on Nov. 25.

In Energy Transfer’s recent third-quarter earnings conference call, co-CEO Mackie McCrea said the South Mississippi Pipeline would “drive other upstream opportunities” for the company. McCrea noted that “one of the contracts supporting [the pipeline]” is “a long-term deal starting in 2029 for capacity out of the Marcellus-Utica” shale formation in Appalachia that will feed southern power grids.

McCrea said that since early 2025, Energy Transfer has signed contracts with tech companies and electric utilities to supply over 9.5 trillion British thermal units of natural gas daily, enough to power about 32 million average homes.

When asked for specific comment on the economic factors driving development of the South Mississippi Pipeline, an Energy Transfer spokesperson declined to provide additional details, instead referring to the company’s public third-quarter earnings disclosures.

In the statement accompanying the third-quarter earnings call, Energy Transfer said it will likely be a 51% owner and operator of the pipeline while shippers will hold the remaining 49%. The company expects the South Mississippi Pipeline will begin service in 2030.

Energy Transfer must still file applications at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, which will trigger a review of the pipeline’s proposed route and open a period for public comment.

A competing project, Kinder Morgan’s proposed $1.7 billion Mississippi Crossing pipeline, which spans 11 counties across the middle of the state, was challenged in federal court by the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Sierra Club. The pipeline’s opponents contend that federal regulators rubber-stamped “a reckless plan” to build an unnecessary project based on exaggerated forecasts of data center electricity needs.