Memphis fails to pass 1-year data center moratorium during heated city council meeting

In a heated city council meeting on Tuesday, leaders in Memphis, Tennessee, voted against a one-year data center development moratorium but instead passed a substitute ordinance halting construction for only 135 days. Residents and activists have long protested the rapid growth of data centers in the region, citing concerns over environmental impact and lack of transparency from local government officials and companies like SpaceXAI. The company has built three data centers in Memphis and is constructing two more, including one across the state border in Southaven, Mississippi. A lawsuit filed by the NAACP and other organizations against a methane gas turbine plant powering these data centers was recently blocked by a Mississippi federal judge, despite efforts by the Trump administration to dismiss it.