As southwest Louisiana continues to grow as hub for liquefied natural gas, a center bringing together education, government, industry and the community is officially open at McNeese State University
The LNG Center of Excellence, which also houses the National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety, celebrated its grand opening on Monday with several local, state and federal officials speaking on the importance of the facility.
“Today, we announced to the nation an operational concept that brings together higher education, community, government, industry, all in one setting to advance economic development along with the intellectual and regulatory understanding of LNG production and its impacts on the world,” McNeese Interim President Kedrick Nicholas. “This is meant to be a space that fosters an unbiased discernment related to LNG for McNeese State University students, industry professionals and members of the community at large. All this collectively is intended to elevate workforce development, create job opportunities, and stimulate the economy.”
The more than $10 million facility on West Sale Road is a 23,000-square-foot, two-story building with two training rooms, a lab, a controls room, administrative offices, and a conference room, according to LNG Center of Excellence at McNeese State University Director of Operations Nikos Kiritsis.
“This is a place where education, government, industry, and the community come together to talk about issues that join them, to find solutions and common problems, and to discuss different opportunities that we can bring in this area,” Kiritsis said.
In May 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration announced it had selected Lake Charles’ McNeese State University as its National Center of Excellence for Liquefied Natural Gas Safety.
Wade Rousse, who was then president of McNeese, said the process began a few years before it was announced, when the school learned that the administration was looking for a location for the center. The university worked with some of its southwest Louisiana partners to create a platform for why the center should be located at McNeese.
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Administrator Paul Roberti said that the center is “strategically located in the heart of America’s LNG industry,” with around seven LNG facilities, either in operation or under construction, located relatively close by.
“This national center will be a vital resource for advancing the safety of LNG facilities across the country, directly supporting the administration’s energy dominance agenda,” Roberti said. “It is designed to be a central hub for collaboration among all stakeholders, for sharing knowledge and best practices within the LNG industry and government. The center will support the continued growth of the industry, working alongside our federal and industry partners.”
Kiritsis said that the center is a great opportunity for southwest Louisiana and McNeese State University because the area is the LNG hub.
“For the university, it means a lot, because it has the opportunity to bring in companies to have functions at the university, to look at our facilities,” Kiritsis said. “We have opportunities for student internships. We have opportunities for presentations from the industry to our students and so on. So, we’re extremely happy and extremely privileged to have a facility like that at McNeese State University.”
