The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued a permit to Elon Musk’s xAI company this week to build a power plant in Southaven.
Southaven, about 15 minutes from Memphis, will help power the Colossus 2 data center, which helps operate Grok.
The power plant in Mississippi will be operated on 41 natural gas turbines.
On X, xAI said the company is “thrilled that MDEQ approved our permanent construction permit unlocking 1.2GW of self-generating power capacity.”
“This permit not only meets all state and federal permitting regulations but goes above and beyond what is required by law,” the company stated. “This permit will ensure that ratepayers don’t pay one extra cent in their energy bills and powers the future of AI innovation through
[Grok].”
In reaction to xAI getting a permit approval, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Southern Environmental Law Center criticized MDEQ’s decision to grant the permit to xAI.
Abre’ Conner, director of Environmental and Climate Justice at the NAACP, said the NAACP was “outraged” by the decision.
“MDEQ chose to bulldoze through a decision that silenced the very residents most harmed by it,” Conner stated.
“The rushed, superficial responses dropped just this weekend completely ignore our community’s concerns and twist the law to fit their agenda. It’s shocking that a state agency and board would refuse to address an unnecessary civic crisis, prioritizing convenience over justice,” she added.
Conner noted when agencies will not take a stand for “public health and justice, the community must — and will — lead the charge.”
Patrick Anderson, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the law center was “extremely disappointed in MDEQ’s decision to greenlight this inadequate permit for xAI’s power plant, which fails to address the significant concerns about the impact of these added turbines will have on communities in North Mississippi as well as South Memphis.”
“Mississippi state regulators appear to be more interested in fast-tracking xAI’s personal power plant than conducting a thorough review of its impacts and having meaningful engagement with the families that will be forced to live with this dirty facility — and its pollution — in their communities,” he added.
This week, xAI filed for a nearly $15 million permit application with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development to build out its Colossus 2 site, Local Memphis reported.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
Photo “Colossus 2” by xAI Memphis.
