Tennessee Data Center News

Jun 23, 2026

SpaceXAI to restart work on wastewater treatment facility to serve Memphis data centers by Q1 2027

SpaceXAI has committed to resume construction of its Memphis recycled wastewater treatment facility.

Main action: SpaceXAI has committed to resuming construction no later than Q1 2027 on the $80 million recycled wastewater treatment facility in Memphis; the plant is planned to recycle 49.2 million liters (13 million gallons) per day and to supply excess water to other businesses, reducing strain on the Memphis Sand Aquifer.
Background and context: Work began on land acquired from the City of Memphis in September 2025 but stalled in April 2026 after staff were redirected amid SpaceX’s IPO preparations and the February 2026 merge of SpaceX and xAI; Memphis officials (including Mayor Paul Young and MLGW president Doug McGowen) met with SpaceXAI’s Michael Nicoll to secure the commitment.

Jun 22, 2026

DOJ intervenes on behalf of xAI in data center gas turbine lawsuit

The Department of Justice has filed a request to intervene and seek dismissal of the NAACP lawsuit challenging xAI’s use of temporary gas-fired turbines at the Stanton Road site that powers the Colossus 2 data center.

Main action: DOJ has asked a federal court to intervene and dismiss the NAACP Clean Air Act suit; the Department of Defense (Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Cameron Stanley) filed testimony arguing the case implicates U.S. national security, noting xAI’s Colossus 2 trains Grok models used by DOD. The NAACP sued in April, alleges operation of 27 gas turbines totaling 495 MW without an air permit, and requested a preliminary injunction in May.
Background and context: The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said the turbines qualify as mobile sources under the Clean Air Act; DOD cited the Grok Gov Model’s integration into Maven Smart System and use in the Iran war (Operation Epic Fury). Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves wrote to support the project; the Environmental Protection Network criticized DOJ’s intervention as seeking broad executive veto power over citizen enforcement.

Jun 19, 2026

Earth’s Follies Week 70: the murky pool of consequences

Xylb’tok the Martian publishes a satirical opinion column summarising multiple recent Earth events including US military strikes in Venezuela, a paused US-Iran peace/rebuilding deal, and pollution allegations at Elon Musk’s xAI data centre.

Main announcement/action: The piece reports on recent US military strikes in Venezuela (targets linked to Tren de Aragua), a widely reported US contribution of around $300bn towards rebuilding tied to a Trump-Iran peace settlement (the deal was reported paused due to ongoing conflict and followed shortly by a reported ceasefire). It also highlights allegations that xAI’s data centre in Memphis/North Mississippi is emitting pollution from dozens of gas turbines and that the NAACP has called for federal intervention (and that there is a legal effort to shut down the lawsuit).
Background and other details: The column is opinion/satire (not a primary announcement); it references reporting from Reuters, The Guardian, BBC, The Independent and AP News, mentions millions in cost overruns and hydrogen-peroxide treatments at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and cites calls to invoke the Insurrection Act (reported urging by JD Vance). The piece mixes factual references and satire rather than announcing a new policy directly.

Jun 17, 2026

ORNL researchers showcase AI-driven science at national expo

Oak Ridge National Laboratory had a major presence at the AI+ Expo for National Competitiveness (May 7–9, 2026), presenting national-lab research and demonstrations of AI, high-performance computing, and autonomous laboratory platforms.

Main announcement / action: ORNL researchers presented and demoed AI and HPC advances at the DOE booth during the AI+ Expo (hosted by the Special Competitive Studies Project), including demonstrations of LOOP (AI-driven metal 3D printing), OPAL (Orchestrated Platform for Autonomous Laboratories) for plant phenotyping with exascale inference on Frontier, and presentations on the American Science Cloud as part of DOE’s Genesis Mission (which aims to double the productivity and impact of American science, engineering and R&D within a decade). Event details:
- Date: May 7–9, 2026
- Location: Washington D.C.
- Agenda / subject: AI-driven scientific discovery, energy resilience, national competitiveness, computing infrastructure, and autonomous scientific workflows.
Background / other details: Senior DOE leaders attended (including Secretary Chris Wright and Under Secretary Dario Gil); ORNL stressed converged computing (AI + HPC + quantum + autonomous workflows). UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the DOE Office of Science. Media contact provided: Scott Jones, Communications Manager, Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate; phone 865.241.6491; email JONESG@ORNL.GOV.

Jun 16, 2026

Google Invests $1.5 Billion in Alabama Data Center Expansion

Google has announced a $1.5 billion expansion of its Jackson County, Alabama data center campus (announced June 16, 2026).

Main announcement: Google will invest $1.5 billion to expand its Jackson County, Alabama data center campus on the former Widow’s Creek coal plant site, repurposing existing infrastructure and electrical lines; the company has contracted to bring 300 MW of new power capacity to the Tennessee Valley region and will cover full costs of the power and infrastructure driven by its operations in line with the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge.
Background & complementary actions: Google is launching a $2 million Energy Impact Fund (in partnership with TVA and the Community Action Agency of Northeast Alabama) to support weatherization and energy-efficiency services for local schools and income-qualified households primarily in Jackson County; the company also plans to train more than 130,000 Alabamians in digital skills in collaboration with 150+ organizations. The article is an active announcement by Google and references a prior 2025 partnership with Kairos Power and TVA to supply up to 50 MW of advanced nuclear power to data centers in Tennessee and Alabama.

Jun 15, 2026

Tennessee Valley Corridor summit participants focus on AI, quantum initiatives

The state of Tennessee has pledged $43 million for the Tennessee Quantum Initiative (TQI).

$43 million pledge by the State of Tennessee to the Tennessee Quantum Initiative (TQI) to build the ecosystem that moves quantum technologies toward real-world adoption; the initiative will increase access to quantum resources, support workforce development, and is linked to hiring through the K-Quantum Accelerator and plans for a 100,000-square-foot quantum foundry in Knoxville.
Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit (May 28-29, Chattanooga): attended by ORNL, DOE, UT-Battelle, U.S. Reps. Chuck Fleischmann and John Rose, and state leaders; ORNL highlighted its AI history (Oak Ridge Applied Artificial Intelligence Project, 1979), continued leadership in HPC/exascale via the Genesis Mission, and cited an industry partnership with Nvidia tied to Nvidia’s $5.5 trillion market valuation.

Jun 12, 2026

Panasonic to convert Kansas EV battery factory for data centre applications

Panasonic has announced plans to repurpose its Kansas EV battery cell plant to produce batteries for data centre applications beginning Q3 2029.

Main announcement: Panasonic will convert its Kansas (De Soto) EV battery factory to produce batteries for data centre applications, starting Q3 2029; it also intends to repurpose EV battery production lines in Japan and expand module plants in Mexico for data-centre BESS. Panasonic will allocate JP¥350 billion (US$2.18 billion) to its Energy division as part of a broader US$3.12 billion investment in AI infrastructure across fiscal years 2026–2028. The Kansas factory opened on 14 July 2025 and Panasonic noted a planned ~32GWh annual production capacity there (Nevada + Kansas ~73GWh combined).
Background and related details: The move follows slower-than-expected EV adoption and FEOC / OBBBA restrictions; other industry actions cited include Ultium Cells repurposing its Tennessee facility to LFP ESS cells, LG ES converting Michigan EV lines to ~17GWh BESS capacity, and expansions by Samsung SDI and SK On in the US. Separately, A123 and Dukosi are collaborating on a PoC high-capacity BESS combining 587Ah prismatic LFP cells with Dukosi’s cell monitoring and a Nuvation-designed BMS.

Jun 10, 2026

Demand-response programs can lower utility bills, but beware of on-site power restrictions, experts say

Virginia lawmakers enacted a law directing Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to create demand-response programs for large energy customers and to expand utility procurement of energy storage.

Main action: The law requires utilities Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to offer demand-response programs for customers with an electric load of 25 megawatts or more, and directs utilities to procure more than 21,000 megawatts of power from facilities’ energy storage systems by 2045; the Virginia State Corporation Commission will work with an independent auditor to develop procurement criteria and review requests.
Background and constraints: The article explains federal EPA limits (100-hour annual use for non-emergency generator operation with a 50-hour cap for non-testing/maintenance) and an EPA interpretive letter that prevents generators in RTO/ISO territories (e.g., PJM Interconnection) from using generators for demand response under the 50-hour cap; retrofitting to Tier 4 emissions can cost $100,000 to $500,000 or more per engine, and EPA enforcement can impose penalties in the hundreds of thousands of dollars; the piece also notes a lawsuit threat from the Southern Environmental Law Center against xAI for on-site generator emissions (three dozen natural gas generators, capacity 421 MW, potential >2,000 tons NOx/year).

Jun 10, 2026

ORNL-developed cybersecurity framework graduates from lab to electric grid

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has licensed its Cyber Grid Guard cybersecurity framework to GridForge Energy Solutions.

Main announcement: ORNL has licensed the patented Cyber Grid Guard framework to GridForge Energy Solutions, which plans to explore commercial deployments to boost real-time visibility of grid behavior for energy projects, grid management companies, and utilities; the technology was tested in ORNL’s GRID-C substation test bed and proven on commercial hardware against simulated denial-of-service and multi-step data-manipulation attacks.
Background/details: The platform uses tamper-resistant blockchain to validate device configuration and operating data, can automatically notify operators of unusual behavior, and was developed with support from the DOE Office of Electricity and ORNL researchers (Raymond Borges Hink, Gary Hahn, Aaron Werth, Emilio Piesciorovsky); GridForge (California-based) was incubated through LabStart. The article cites a concrete capacity point: “over 100 gigawatts of flexible grid capacity underutilized” as context for the technology’s potential.

Jun 5, 2026

Top 10 countries by uranium production

DevelopmentAid published a comprehensive summary of global uranium production, reserves, prices and recent market developments, highlighting producers, price movements and large corporate PPAs and government funding for SMRs.

Main announcement/action: The article reports current production and reserve data (e.g., world recoverable resources 7.9 million tU, world production 60,213 tU in 2024, Kazakhstan 23,270 tU in 2024), recent price spikes to US$101.41/lb (Jan 2026) then back to ~US$85.50/lb (Feb 5, 2026), and major industry developments including Meta securing up to 6.6 GW of nuclear by 2035, Amazon signing a 1.9 GW PPA with Talen Energy, and DOE awarding US$400M each to TVA and Holtec for SMR projects.
Background and details: The article aggregates sources (World Nuclear Association, IEA, Investing News, World Nuclear News) and provides production method breakdown (conventional mining 44%, in-situ leach 52%, by-product 4%), national export/import patterns (e.g., Canada exports ~64% to the Americas), projected Kazakhstan output (27,000–29,000 tU by 2026), and cited timelines for corporate deals and government funding (PPAs through 2035, DOE SMR funding as reported in 2026).

Tennessee Data Center Intel

Recent Tennessee data center news