Tennessee Data Center Intel

Recent Tennessee data center news

• Apr 2, 2026

  The Genesis Mission: How AI Supercomputing Is About to Reshape American Science and Energy

  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched the Genesis Mission, chartered to double U.S. R&D productivity within a decade by deploying a platform combining high-performance computing, AI supercomputing, and quantum computing.

  • Main action: The DOE’s Genesis Mission is standing up national AI supercomputing infrastructure through the Genesis Consortium with 27 industrial partners, including Nvidia, Oracle, AMD, and HPE; Argonne will host a system with ~10,000 GPUs (operational this year), Oak Ridge will host a comparably sized cluster targeting 2026, and a 100,000-GPU cluster is planned for Argonne in 2027. The program pairs this compute platform with a portfolio of national challenges (energy, physical sciences, national security) and a university engagement effort to train future scientists in AI-enabled methods.
  • Background and concrete details: The initiative was launched by President Trump and chartered through the DOE; examples cited include fusion surrogate models that run thousands to tens of thousands times faster than traditional simulations, Grid FM from Brookhaven that could cut a ~20-year grid-simulation workload to two months, and DOE Office of Electricity efforts to reduce interconnection delays by addressing the 80–90% deficiency rate in interconnection applications. Named private partners and startups involved include Periodic Labs, Radical AI, and the Prometheus Project.
• Apr 1, 2026

  Lafayette’s LFT Fiber Steadily Expands, Offers Even Faster Speeds

  LFT Fiber has announced expanded fiber coverage and new faster residential speed tiers.

  • Main announcement: LFT Fiber (formerly LUS Fiber) expanded its fiber footprint, now passing 95,000 households and businesses in Lafayette Parish, completed a planned expansion into Eunice (announced in February), and is extending 2 Gbps and 5 Gbps residential service tiers (previously business-only). The provider currently offers 250 Mbps ($55/month), 500 Mbps ($65/month), and 1 Gbps ($85/month) retail tiers.
  • Background and details: Expansion has been funded in part by ARPA and other state and federal broadband grants (linked reporting references a $31 million federal grant for rural expansion); LFT emphasizes reinvestment of revenue into the community and published a website FAQ explaining staged rollouts. The article also notes Louisiana’s municipal broadband preemption laws that limit other municipalities from following Lafayette’s model.
• Mar 23, 2026

  Cut AI Cooling Costs with Dell PowerCool eRDHx

  Dell Technologies has announced the PowerCool Enclosed Rear Door Heat Exchanger (eRDHx), a closed-loop warm-water liquid cooling solution designed to reduce cooling energy and increase GPU density in AI data centers.

  • Product details & performance: The eRDHx is a closed-loop, warm-water system operating with facility water between 32–36°C (90–97°F), provides up to 80 kilowatts of cooling capacity per rack, claims up to 74% reduction in cooling energy, and enables up to 4x GPU density per rack; a hypothetical 1,024-server deployment at a 10MW scale is cited as yielding $18.3M in energy savings over five years.
  • Availability & supporting materials: The article references availability timelines (stated as starting December 2025 in the key takeaways and becomes available in April 2026 in the body), links to a whitepaper, infographic and checklist for planning, and cites an IEA April 2025 report and Dell-authored technical references (Emily Clark, Ph.D.; Tim Shedd, Ph.D.).
• Mar 20, 2026

  How to Build an Affordable Energy Future

  NRDC will develop and release a series of papers called the Build Clean Agenda focused on three areas of reform to speed clean energy and infrastructure deployment.

  • Main action: NRDC will publish a multi-paper Build Clean Agenda to modernize laws and permitting, level the playing field for clean energy, and design projects that benefit communities; it calls for U.S. renewable energy production to roughly quadruple, and for at least tripling grid capacity over the next 25 years, and highlights the Western Solar Plan identifying 31 million acres for siting solar on public lands.
  • Background and specifics: The piece documents concrete barriers and numbers: the oil, gas, and coal industries receive $34 billion in annual federal subsidies; a 2025 partisan tax bill risks an estimated half a trillion dollars of private clean-energy investment and may raise consumer fuel/energy costs $78–$192 per year; it cites projects like the Grain Belt Express facing multi-year delays and supports targeted reforms such as expanding the “One Federal Decision” approach and giving a federal lead (e.g., FERC) authority to coordinate interstate transmission permitting where uniform standards are met.
• Mar 19, 2026

  Nuclear Sprint: DOE and Industry Race to Meet Trump’s Target

  The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources convened March 19 to examine DOE implementation of President Trump’s May 2025 nuclear energy executive orders.

  • Main announcement/action: The hearing presented DOE and witnesses’ roadmap to expand U.S. nuclear capacity from ~100 GW today to 400 GW by 2050, with an executive-order milestone of three reactors achieving criticality by July 4, 2026; near-term measures include a $1 billion loan for the Crane Restart (expected 835 MW by 2028), Palisades restart (~800 MW) this summer, and reactor uprates adding ~2.5 GW by 2027 and ~5 GW by 2029. The DOE announced three $900 million enrichment awards, and Kairos Power is operating under a $303 million milestone-based technology investment agreement and a PPA to deliver up to 50 MW (part of up to 500 MW by 2035 with Google/TVA).

  • Background and other details: Witnesses flagged fuel supply vulnerabilities (Russia supplied ~20–25% of U.S. enriched uranium in 2024; a >3 million SWU gap exists), HALEU production gaps (no commercial-scale HALEU outside Russia/China), lithium-7 shortages for molten-salt reactors, INL facility timelines (e.g., DOME completion by March 31, 2026), participation in the Reactor Pilot Program (10 companies, 11 projects), and statutory/ export measures including the International Nuclear Energy Act of 2025 authorizing $65.5 million for export support and a Poland $47 billion AP1000 selection.

• Mar 19, 2026

  Google Signs Deal for Demand Response Capacity for Data Centers

  Google has announced it has integrated 1 GW of demand response capacity into its long-term energy contracts with multiple U.S. utilities.

  • Main announcement: Google integrated 1 GW of demand response capacity into long-term energy contracts with multiple U.S. utilities, explicitly naming Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Entergy Arkansas, Minnesota Power, and DTE Energy.
  • Background and details: Since initial agreements with I&M and TVA last year, Google says the capability lets it limit or shift ML workloads in data centers to support grid balancing; Google is a founding member of EPRI DCFlex and is collaborating with states, regulators, and utility partners to modernize power system planning.
• Mar 19, 2026

  xAI Data Center Expansion Sparks Pollution Concerns In Mississippi Tennessee Region [WATCH]

  xAI received approval from Mississippi regulators to install 41 permanent gas turbines at its Southaven facility, enabling a behind-the-meter power plant estimated to produce up to 1.2 gigawatts.

  • Main action: Mississippi regulators approved permits for 41 permanent gas turbines to support xAI’s Southaven/Colossus 2 data center expansion; the installation is described as a behind-the-meter power plant with an estimated capacity of up to 1.2 gigawatts. The permit approval follows prior use of temporary methane-powered turbines that regulators treated as exempt from permitting when labeled temporary.
  • Background and details: Independent researchers and environmental groups estimate the expansion’s emissions could cause up to $44 million in annual health-related costs (hospital visits and lost productivity); community groups (e.g., Young, Gifted and Green) and civil rights advocates, including Justin J. Pearson, have cited health risks, noise complaints, and environmental justice concerns, and some residents are pursuing legal challenges over permitting and compliance with the Clean Air Act.
• Mar 19, 2026 · Google

  A new milestone for smart, affordable electricity growth

  Google has announced it integrated 1 GW of demand response capacity into long-term energy contracts with multiple U.S. utilities.

  • Main announcement: Google has integrated a total of 1 gigawatt (GW) of demand response capacity into long-term energy contracts with multiple U.S. utilities (including Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Entergy Arkansas, Minnesota Power, and DTE Energy) to allow the company to shift or reduce ML workloads, deploy demand response quickly to bridge short-term load growth, and help new data centers connect more rapidly to local grids.
  • Background and implementation details: These contracts position demand response as a capacity resource alongside solar, geothermal and long-duration energy storage; Google cites collaboration with states, regulators and utility partners, participation in initiatives like EPRI DCFlex, and notes limits to availability by location and that demand response helps cover peak periods while longer-term generation/storage projects are developed.
• Mar 16, 2026

  Workshop tackles AI data center power, security challenges

  Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) hosted the Next-Generation Data Centers Power and Security Workshop, where DOE’s Office of Electricity and industry stakeholders convened to identify research and technology pathways to integrate AI data centers with the electric grid.

  • Main announcement/action: The workshop identified priority research areas including direct-current power architectures, flexible and networked microgrids, real-time energy demand modeling and feedback, secure data center design and security testing for grid equipment, and U.S. manufacturing workforce development; DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary Michael Pesin introduced a “do no harm” principle for data center–grid integration, urged that existing power plants remain online and that transmission approval processes be streamlined, and cited a recent Section 202(c) Federal Power Act order that allowed access to backup generation during an East Coast cold spell to avoid rolling blackouts. The workshop noted AI training can cause power swings of hundreds of megawatts that must be managed.

  • Background and details: Industry and utilities (including Tennessee Valley Authority, EPRI, STAK Energy, Schneider Electric, Indium Corporation, Southwire, S&P Global) discussed forecasting challenges for data center load, supply-chain shortages (electrical steel, copper, semiconductors, graphite, gallium), and actions such as increased recycling, pursuing domestic/North American mining and refining of trace metals, and manufacturers scaling up capacity; STAK Energy presented plans for a large natural-gas-powered data center platform on Alaska’s North Slope (Prudhoe Bay). ORNL also announced formation of a Next-Generation Data Center Institute consolidating expertise in energy technologies, HPC, cybersecurity and grid science.

• Mar 15, 2026

  Total Mess at Elon Musk’s xAI, “Not Built Right” and “Being Rebuilt” — While Polluting Enormously

  Elon Musk announced that xAI “was not built right first time around” and that the company is being rebuilt from the foundations up.

  • Main announcement: Elon Musk posted that xAI is being rebuilt from the foundations up, with Grok (xAI’s chatbot) and the xAI team undergoing a structural reset; Musk and xAI’s head of talent Baris Akis are reviewing past interview records and reaching back out to promising candidates to hire new talent.
  • Background and details:xAI was merged into SpaceX and regulators in Mississippi authorized xAI to build a power plant with 41 natural gas-burning turbines in Southaven to power nearby data centers; the NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center have filed objections saying the MDEQ permit has serious legal and policy flaws. Additional factual items: Tesla added Grok to Tesla infotainment starting July 12, 2025, and xAI has seen roughly half of its founding members leave recently.