Memphis, Tennessee, leaders rejected a proposed one-year pause on data center construction during a contentious city council meeting Tuesday. The city has become a major hub for new facilities linked to Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI.
Instead, council members approved a substitute ordinance that would stop data center construction for 135 days. Some members said they received the replacement measure with little notice and had not had enough time to examine it.
Residents and environmental activists have opposed data center expansion in the Memphis area for years, beginning with the construction of SpaceXAI’s Colossus 1 facility in 2024. The company has since completed two additional data centers and has two more under construction in Memphis and nearby communities, including Southaven, Mississippi, across the state line.
In Southaven, methane-powered turbines at a plant supplying electricity to the company’s data centers have also drawn legal scrutiny. The NAACP and other groups filed a lawsuit alleging that the facility is contributing to pollution.
SpaceXAI did not respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration sought to dismiss the lawsuit, but a federal judge in Mississippi rejected that effort Tuesday.
Data center proponents say the facilities are needed to support the expansion of artificial intelligence. Supporters also point to the potential for much-needed employment, though experts note that many of those positions are tied to construction and are therefore temporary.
The proposed moratorium would have halted new data center construction for a year, giving Memphis time to create permanent zoning and development rules and establish disclosure requirements for applicants. It also would have allowed the city to assess potential effects on air quality, the electrical grid, water resources and noise. Existing data center operations would have continued under the proposal.
The ordinance approved Tuesday says it is intended to work alongside an executive order from Memphis Mayor Paul Young, which created a 90-day review of the effects of data center development.
The substitute measure appeared to catch many people in the chamber off guard. After the vote, several attendees stayed behind, singing, chanting and expressing their anger over the council’s decision.
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Photo by Brandon Dill/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The council’s action followed the postponement of an earlier vote this month, a decision that sparked protests inside the chamber and forced the early conclusion of an Oct. 6 meeting.
The backlash in Memphis mirrors growing skepticism toward data center projects across the United States. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that over half of Americans are uncomfortable with a new data center operating in their community. That concern has increasingly surfaced at city council meetings and town halls nationwide.
Before Tuesday’s vote, KeShaun Pearson, executive director of Memphis Community Against Pollution, said residents were troubled by what they viewed as a lack of transparency from local officials and data center companies. He also cited concerns about the industry’s environmental effects.
“It’s as if the people who have been elected to protect us and to stand up to corporations and be that representative have just completely abdicated that responsibility, and left us to fend for ourselves,” he said.
Pearson and his brother, Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson, were among several people barred from attending city council meetings after protests at City Hall earlier this month.
A federal judge later lifted the ban, allowing both men to attend Tuesday’s vote. Pearson and the group have filed a lawsuit against the city council over the restrictions.
