Memphis council to vote on proposed pause for new data center construction
Memphis leaders are preparing to vote on a proposed moratorium that would pause new data center construction and expansions for up to a year. The proposal follows intense community opposition to SpaceXAI’s facilities, pollution concerns from gas-powered turbines, a federal lawsuit, and disorder at a City Council meeting.
The Memphis City Council is expected to consider a temporary moratorium on new data centers and expansions of existing facilities. If approved, the measure would also create a study committee to develop regulations, while allowing legally operating facilities and smaller installations at hospitals and universities to continue. Council Member JB Smiley Jr. said the proposal was prompted in part by plans for a SpaceXAI expansion that residents and council members had not known about.
The debate has centered on SpaceXAI’s Colossus facilities in the Memphis area, where residents have raised concerns about turbine emissions, noise, vibrations and electricity-intensive operations. The NAACP has sued SpaceXAI under the Clean Air Act over alleged unpermitted turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, while state Rep. Justin J. Pearson and other activists filed a separate First Amendment lawsuit after being barred from council meetings. Mayor Paul Young separately ordered a 90-day study of regulations for large and hyperscale data centers, as officials prepare enhanced security for future meetings following protests and a fight at City Hall.