Social media giant Meta is using its huge investments in hyperscale data centers to drive economic development and support the expansion of renewable energy in regions that have strong demographics for sustainable growth, most recently in Idaho and Iowa.

Meta has announced it will build an $800-million, 960,000 SF hyperscale data center in Kuna, ID, a suburb of Boise, one of the hottest tech hubs in the nation. Meta will receive a new sales tax exemption, on server equipment and construction materials used to build the data center, that Idaho recently established for capital for capital investments of at least $250M.

The Meta Kuna Data Center, opening in 2025, will be powered 100 percent by renewable energy as the first customer of Idaho Power's Clean Energy Your Way Program. The program allows industrial customers to develop their own renewable energy resources and hook them up to Idaho Power's grid. Meta also will build a new $50M water and sewer system for Kuna.