Memphis’ Data Center Vote Has Black Residents Feeling Betrayed

The fray over locating more AI data centers in Memphis reached a small break Oct. 20, after a long, contentious City Council meeting in which a proposed 18-month moratorium on data-center development or expansion failed and a much shorter 135-day pause passed.

“The Memphis City Council failed the people of Memphis and the mid-South tonight,” state Rep. Justin J. Pearson, a Democrat from the area, told WREG after the five-hour meeting that drew more than 400 people.

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“The four-and-a-half-month moratorium, passed with rushed, piecemeal guidelines, was not what the people wanted,” he said.

What Went Wrong

Pearson, who is running for Congress in a district Republicans gerrymandered into existence, currently represents Boxtown, the historically Black neighborhood founded by freedmen in 1863. For much of the past two years, Pearson and many of his constituents have lived beside Colossus, one of Elon Musk’s three hyperscale data centers. 

Each data center Musk has developed in the Memphis area is located in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Pearson has made the fight against data center development a key component of his campaign. 

Even before the Memphis City Council met last Tuesday for a third and final vote on a proposed moratorium, the question was who would be allowed in the City Council chambers. 

Earlier in October, activists on both sides packed the room for the expected final vote. When the council voted to delay the decision, the meeting plunged into chaos, with heated exchanges between council members and moratorium supporters in the crowd. The council decided to delay the final vote to Oct. 20. 

But Pearson and five other residents who attended that meeting later received letters banning them from the next two meetings. A federal judge partly overturned the ban just hours before the council convened on Oct. 20.

The moratorium failed on a tie vote.  

Many blamed the result on the absence of Council member Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, who co-sponsored the moratorium in August with two colleagues but missed the meeting because of a family emergency. 

At times, she has been a vocal critic of SpaceXAI and was at the center of the conflict during the last council meeting when she voted to delay the third and final reading of the moratorium ordinance. 

After verbally sparring with activists — and some fellow council members — Cooper-Sutton was suspended from her duties on two committees for 30 days. However, she was still eligible to attend and participate in this week’s pivotal meeting.

Moritorium Fails, Pause Succeeds

 Before the vote, the original proposal for a yearlong moratorium was amended to 18 months. A shorter, 135-day pause on data centers was then introduced during the council session and was approved on a 7-5 vote. 

While no one seemed happy with the final result, the pause offers a brief window to figure out how to regulate data centers, which critics say consume massive amounts of power and water and pollute neighborhoods that are already fighting for cleaner air. 

Council members who supported the original moratorium were also frustrated.

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“We had hundreds of people packed in there who waited for hours, Council member Jerri Green told CNN. “They’ve been pushing for this for over a year. They’re the people who are being deeply impacted by these environmental hazards.” 

Green said that the City Council had failed the people of Memphis.

During the 135-day ban, the city will study how data centers affect residents and the resources they demand. Recommendations are also to follow on where future data centers can be located and how such facilities will be defined.