Jackson councilman seeking temporary moratorium on data centers

Jackson City Council President Brian Grizzell is set to introduce a draft ordinance on Tuesday proposing a 183-day temporary moratorium on data centers within the city of Jackson, Mississippi. The moratorium would block the construction, expansion, permitting, or site plan approval for new or expanded data centers exceeding 5 megawatts of projected electrical load. Grizzell's rationale for the moratorium centers on the potential stress large-scale data centers, particularly hyperscale facilities, could place on Jackson's already challenged municipal systems, including water, wastewater, drainage, and electrical reliability. He also cited personal experiences with environmental exposure from a nearby power plant influencing his approach to such decisions. This proposed ordinance comes less than two weeks after Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves announced an additional $12 billion in investments from Amazon Web Services (AWS) for data center projects across Ridgeland, Madison County, Canton, Clinton, and Warren County. Amazon officials have stated that some of these new facilities, like the one in Clinton, will use no water, while the Canton facility will utilize 100% recycled water. Grizzell acknowledged other municipalities and the state are actively attracting the industry but emphasized the duty of elected officials to ensure development aligns with the city's capacity and protects residents' health and well-being. Exemptions to the proposed moratorium include existing data centers conducting routine maintenance, facilities supporting public safety or government operations, and projects already fully approved.