---
title: "Meta's 15-year policy chief leaves in 2027 as the power bill for AI comes due"
description: "Joel Kaplan, who built Meta's Washington operation and ran its politics for 15 years, exits in 2027 as the company's hardest fights move from content moderation to gas plants, rate cases and court fines. Meta reports third-quarter results tonight with a $130–145 billion capital program underway."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Policy"
published: 2026-10-21T14:51:50.220Z
modified: 2026-10-21T14:51:50.220Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/meta-s-15-year-policy-chief-leaves-in-2027-as-the-power-bill-for-ai-comes-due
language: en
keywords: "Meta, Policy, AI Infrastructure, Regulation, Capex"
---

# Meta's 15-year policy chief leaves in 2027 as the power bill for AI comes due

> Joel Kaplan, who built Meta's Washington operation and ran its politics for 15 years, exits in 2027 as the company's hardest fights move from content moderation to gas plants, rate cases and court fines. Meta reports third-quarter results tonight with a $130–145 billion capital program underway.

## The fixer hands over the keys

Joel Kaplan, [Meta](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/meta)'s chief global affairs officer and [Mark Zuckerberg](https://theinference.org/markets/people/mark-zuckerberg)'s Washington adviser for more than 15 years, will leave the company in 2027, [Axios reported on October 20](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/exclusive-joel-kaplan-leaving-meta-after-15-years-as-policy-chief/ar-AA2fFyg2) and Meta confirmed [1][2][3].

A former Marine artillery officer who served as deputy White House chief of staff to George W. Bush, Kaplan joined Facebook in 2011, built its US policy team from scratch, ran the Cambridge Analytica response and repaired Zuckerberg's relationship with Donald Trump [1][3]. He stays through the November 3 midterms, then hands over and, he says, spends time with his family [1][2][3].

## The desk is now about substations

The job has changed shape. Dina Powell [McCormick](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/mccormick-and-company), Meta's president and vice chairman, adds external affairs while co-heading the Meta Compute infrastructure initiative; chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney, who led the 52-attorney-general teen-safety settlement, adds policy [1].

Their docket is concrete. [Entergy](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/entergy) wants Louisiana regulators to approve seven gas plants, three battery systems and new transmission for Meta's $50 billion Richland Parish campus, which its chief executive, Phillip May, [testified will draw 4,500 megawatts](https://www.nola.com/news/entergy-meta-public-service-commission-louisiana/article_5fe46cdb-7c36-46dd-93f7-3326410e7009.html), roughly four times what the city of New Orleans uses [5].

## The permission bill arrives on four fronts

The consumer groups in that case never got Meta's own jobs and demand records, which Entergy says it does not hold [6], and which Louisiana had [already let Meta seal](https://theinference.org/article/louisiana-s-largest-newspaper-threw-meta-a-party-weeks-later-the-state-sealed-meta-s-power-data); a post on X on October 20 puts Entergy's ask above $14 billion and says two groups have now asked a Baton Rouge court to force disclosure, a filing this report could not locate [7].

Abroad, [Ofcom is investigating Instagram's Instants feature](https://www.courthousenews.com/uk-watchdog-investigates-meta-over-instagram-instants-feature/) on penalties up to £18 million or 10 percent of worldwide revenue [8]; Brazil's electoral court doubled its daily fine to 1 million reais before [Meta said on October 20 it had complied](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/meta-tells-brazils-electoral-court-it-gives-equal-treatment-to-lula-and-flavio-bolsonaro) [9][10]; and a Santa Fe judge is weighing New Mexico's $35 billion to $40 billion ask, covered here on October 18, against Meta's counter of $154 million to $1.54 billion [11][12].

## Permission is eating the cash

*Chart: **Meta's quarterly capital spending passed its free cash flow this year** Line chart of Meta's quarterly capital spending and free cash flow from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026, showing capex climbing from about $6.5 billion to $30.1 billion while free cash flow collapses to $1.7 billion.*

*Meta's quarterly capital spending passed its free cash flow this year [13]*

Meta spent $30.1 billion of capital in the second quarter against $1.7 billion of free cash flow, on $60.8 billion of revenue, and [has guided $130 billion to $145 billion of 2026 capital spending](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001326801) including finance leases [13][4]. Third-quarter results arrive after tonight's close [4]. The shop that clears the path for that spending changes hands while the spending peaks.

## The other side gets a hearing

Entergy says the 20-year contract obliges Meta to pay even if it walks, and Governor Jeff Landry's executive order requires data centers to fund their own power [5]. Meta says it risk-assessed Instants and briefed Ofcom before launch, and [calls the New Mexico request "grossly disproportional"](https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/418710/meta-blasts-new-mexico-request-for-40-billion-fin.html) [8][11]. Nothing in the record ties Kaplan's exit to any of this; the transition was planned [1].

## What to watch

Four dates decide the quarter: tonight's capital-spending guide [4], the New Mexico ruling this month [12], [the Louisiana commission's vote on December 16](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/entergy-eases-confidentiality-restrictions-meta-202600637.html) [6], and Brazil's October 25 runoff [9]. Kaplan's signature leaves the building in 2027; the permission slips do not [4][12][6][9].

## Takeaway

The job that runs interference is handing over exactly as Meta's fights move to gas plants, rate cases and fines, with $130–145 billion of 2026 capex on the line and four dates this quarter that decide the permission bill.

## Sources

1. [Axios (via MSN), Exclusive: Joel Kaplan leaving Meta after 15 years as policy chief, 20 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/exclusive-joel-kaplan-leaving-meta-after-15-years-as-policy-chief/ar-AA2fFyg2)
2. [Reuters (via MSN), Meta's global affairs officer Joel Kaplan to leave company after 15 years, 20 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/metas-global-affairs-officer-joel-kaplan-to-leave-company-after-15-years/ar-AA2fFLiH)
3. [Business Insider, Longtime Meta policy head Joel Kaplan is leaving, 20 October 2026](https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-policy-head-joel-kaplan-is-leaving-2026-10)
4. [Stocktwits, Meta Policy Chief Joel Kaplan Reportedly To Leave In 2027, 21 October 2026](https://stocktwits.com/news-articles/markets/equity/meta-policy-chief-joel-kaplan-reportedly-to-leave-in-2027-leadership-transition-comes-amid-zuckerberg-s-ai-push/cZxARJrRBH5)
5. [NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | The Advocate, Entergy makes case for expanding Meta data center in hearing while opponents question costs, 8 October 2026](https://www.nola.com/news/entergy-meta-public-service-commission-louisiana/article_5fe46cdb-7c36-46dd-93f7-3326410e7009.html)
6. [The Center Square (via Yahoo News), Entergy eases confidentiality restrictions in Meta power case, 10 September 2026](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/entergy-eases-confidentiality-restrictions-meta-202600637.html)
7. [X post, @CajunCybertruck on Entergy and Meta's Richland Parish records, 20 October 2026](https://x.com/CajunCybertruck/status/2112547132926210520)
8. [Courthouse News Service, UK watchdog investigates Meta over Instagram Instants feature, 7 October 2026](https://www.courthousenews.com/uk-watchdog-investigates-meta-over-instagram-instants-feature/)
9. [PBS NewsHour (AP), Meta tells Brazil's electoral court it gives equal treatment to Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro, 20 October 2026](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/meta-tells-brazils-electoral-court-it-gives-equal-treatment-to-lula-and-flavio-bolsonaro)
10. [Al Jazeera (via MSN, AFP), Brazilian court orders Meta to prove Lula and Bolsonaro get equal treatment, 19 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/brazilian-court-orders-meta-to-prove-lula-and-bolsonaro-get-equal-treatment/ar-AA2fB5Wp)
11. [MediaPost, Meta Blasts New Mexico Request For $40 Billion Fine, 13 October 2026](https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/418710/meta-blasts-new-mexico-request-for-40-billion-fin.html)
12. [24/7 Wall St., New Mexico Wants Meta to Pay Up to $40 Billion. A Judge Rules This Month, 6 October 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/06/new-mexico-wants-meta-to-pay-up-to-40-billion-a-judge-rules-this-month/)
13. [Meta Platforms, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 21 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001326801)


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Meta's 15-year policy chief leaves in 2027 as the power bill for AI comes due — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/meta-s-15-year-policy-chief-leaves-in-2027-as-the-power-bill-for-ai-comes-due