Consultant helps Jackson develop data center playbook. Here are some of the highlights
Jackson, Mississippi, is developing a comprehensive playbook to evaluate and attract data center projects, including a customized impact rubric and best practices. This initiative comes as the City Council recently enacted a moratorium on data centers due to significant concerns over the city's strained water and sewer infrastructure, as well as potential impacts on underserved communities. Consultants recommend updating zoning ordinances and requiring data centers to fund infrastructure upgrades and invest in water reuse systems.
The City of Jackson, Mississippi, has been working with Thomas Consulting Group (TCG) for months to develop a comprehensive strategy for evaluating and attracting hyperscale data center projects. Documents obtained via an open records request reveal that in December, the city received a 60-page memo outlining best practices from other cities and a "customized Jackson data center impact rubric" for assessing proposals. Jennifer Cecil, director of data analytics and project management for TCG, emphasized that these tools would help ensure investments are "resilient, equitable, and sustainable" as Jackson navigates economic development in the high-demand data center sector.
Consultants highlighted critical considerations for any project, including the city’s existing water and sewer infrastructure concerns, the potential benefits for historically underserved communities, and the true cost per job created. TCG specifically noted water as "one of the most consequential issues for data centers and the one most directly connected to Jackson’s vulnerabilities," recommending that data center companies fund infrastructure upgrades and invest in municipal-scale water reuse systems. They also advised establishing per-megawatt and per-gallon impact fees.
Following these recommendations and growing concerns, the Jackson City Council recently enacted a moratorium on data center development. Ward Four Councilman Brian Grizzell introduced the moratorium, citing concerns about the impact on the city’s already struggling infrastructure and underserved communities. TCG also advised the city to update its zoning ordinance within a year to define data centers and classify them as a conditional use linked to infrastructure impact thresholds.
The city’s discussions around data center development have drawn federal attention, with U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate scheduling a status conference to assess the impact of data centers on Jackson’s water system, which is currently under federal oversight by Interim Third-Party Manager Ted Henifin and his company, JXN Water. While Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba stated that talks of a data center project at Lake Hico were "very premature," the city is exploring community benefit agreements, citing examples like Apple's $100 million fund in Waukee, Iowa, and Amazon's (AWS) $63 million infrastructure investment in Ridgeland, Mississippi.