The leader of a Missouri-based renewable energy company has confirmed plans to in Moss Bluff, an unincorporated bedroom community 8 miles north of Lake Charles.
David Bunge, president of Azimuth Renewables, in April signed an option to buy about 1,200 acres of heavily wooded property owned by Kenny Nichols along Coffey Road in Calcasieu Parish, according to land records. Bunge said by phone this week that he is still early in the process, but confirmed he plans to develop a data center.
Many details remain unclear about the project, including the prospective operator or customer, the size of the facility, its power requirements and whether it will ultimately be built. The project would also require local rezoning and permitting approval before it could proceed.
The proposed data center comes as a controversial 4,700-acre solar farm project takes shape nearby, though Bunge denied that the two projects are linked.
“We are looking at the possibility of a data center opportunity,” Bunge said. “And it’s at the early evaluation stage at this point in time.”
Nichols, the landowner, did not respond to phone and text messages for this story.
‘A robust buffer’
Moss Bluff is a quiet retreat of 12,500 people north of Lake Charles, and home to many who work in the nearby petrochemical industry.
The data center is expected to be built over 1,168 acres in a wooded, rural portion of Moss Bluff.
Bunge has three years to purchase the property, with an optional one-year extension, according to the April agreement.
The data center would occupy a fraction of the total acreage, Bunge said. He would not confirm if the planned facility is an artificial intelligence data center or whether there have been conversations with a prospective operator or customer.
The location was appealing, he said, because of its proximity to infrastructure that could support this type of project and the wooded area.
“The fact that it is surrounded by a robust buffer on all sides is something that we felt was also important and would help minimize the impact of any potential development on this property,” Bunge said.
Trees line both sides of North Perkins Ferry Road near a proposed data center site Friday, September 4, 2026, in Moss Bluff, an unincorporated suburb north of Lake Charles, La.
STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK
The property was rezoned from single family residential to agricultural at Nichols’ request in 2003, according to land records. Before the data center project could proceed, the Calcasieu Parish Planning and Zoning Board would need to grant approval.
No rezoning or variance requests for the property have come before the board so far.
To qualify for , the data center project would also be required to commit to a minimum capital investment of $200 million, create at least 50 new permanent jobs and fully fund its own power generation and grid infrastructure costs without burdening local ratepayers.
Bunge would not comment on the project’s size, cost, number of jobs or construction timeline.
Bunge also declined to say whether there have been conversations about the project with anyone at h Economic Development, and agency spokesperson Emma Wagner said LED does not comment on prospective projects.
‘Highly controversial issue’
It’s become common across the country to pair large-scale solar farms near data centers, including an 11,000-acre solar farm in Mississippi County, Arkansas, that supports Google data center operations and an 1,900-acre solar farm in Falls County, Texas, that supports Meta data center operations.
In Moss Bluff, the proposed data center would be adjacent to a proposed 4,700-acre solar farm project known as , which has faced pushback from many residents of North Calcasieu Parish and some lawmakers. Land acquisition for the project, which is being developed by California-based company Orion Renewable Energy Group, has been underway since 2019, according to land records.
But Bunge said his project is not linked to the controversial solar farm project in the vicinity.
“We do not have any contractual relationships with them,” Bunge said. “So there’s really no connection between our project and theirs.”
He added that the solar farm was unrelated to his decision to pick the site.
“If that solar project were to not move forward, it would not directly impact whether or not we move forward or the scale or shape of our project,” Bunge said.
State Rep. Brett Geymann talks about the potential impact of the proposed data center and solar farm Friday, September 4, 2026, as he drives through Moss Bluff, an unincorporated suburb north of Lake Charles, La.
STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK
State Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, said he “started hearing rumblings in the community” about a potential data center about three months ago, and more recently confirmed with Bunge and Nichols that there is a lease for a data center project.
He predicted opposition from the community.
“I know that the Moss Bluff community is fighting against bringing industrial projects into our bedroom community, which is what the fight over the solar farm is that we’re currently trying to stop,” Geymann said. “And I can say with confidence that the community is going to feel the same way about the data center.”
For the solar farm, Calcasieu Parish Police Juror Roger Marcantel signed an agreement in 2024 with Persimmon to allow transmission lines and other structures to cross his property.
Marcantel declined to comment further on the project, saying in a text message to h that he prefers not to wade in on the “highly controversial issue in the Moss Bluff area” until a permit is requested for the solar farm or the data center project.
Homes in the Roseville subdivision are seen at right, near the treeline of a proposed solar farm site Friday, September 4, 2026, in Moss Bluff, an unincorporated suburb north of Lake Charles, La.
STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK
The Persimmon project’s footprint borders the data center property along with other rural residential properties of north Calcasieu Parish in the Moss Bluff, DeQuincy and Gillis communities.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that those two properties are adjacent to each other,” said Tommy Cryar, a Moss Bluff resident and real estate investor who serves on the Beauregard Electric Cooperative Board of Directors. “The solar project is actually touching the same land that the data center is on.”
Mike Viator, CEO of Beauregard Electric, said Beauregard and its supplier have not been consulted for the solar farm project.
“I don’t know who they’re talking to,” Viator said. “I don’t know what their plans are, but I do know that it won’t benefit anybody who lives in that area.”
Entergy h spokesperson Brandon Scardigli said the company could not comment on the proposed solar farm.
Bunge said he is planning Moss Bluff community outreach about the data center project later in the process.
“We look forward to engaging with them and getting feedback,” Bunge said. “We’re trying to make every effort to develop an opportunity here, if the site ultimately is suitable for that in a way that maximizes the benefits and minimizes any impact.”