xAI Secures Permits for 15 Natural Gas Generators at Memphis Data Center Despite Controversy
AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication
County regulators have granted xAI permits to operate 15 natural gas turbines at its data center outside Memphis, despite the looming threat of a lawsuit. The Elon Musk-backed AI company has been operating as many as 35 generators without permits, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). The 15 permitted generators, Solar SMT-130 models, are capable of producing up to 247 megawatts of electricity. The Shelby County Health Department has issued the permits, specifying that the generators must be equipped with certain emissions controls. Notably, xAI has already been operating eight of the same model without permits, the SELC claims, although the group acknowledges that these generators do have the appropriate pollution controls. The permits come with conditions that allow xAI to emit significant amounts of pollution on a rolling 12-month basis. This includes 87 tons of smog-forming NOx, 94 tons of carbon monoxide, 85 tons of volatile organic compounds, 73 tons of particulate pollution, and nearly 14 tons of hazardous air pollutants, including 9.8 tons of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. The SELC has threatened to sue xAI for violations of the Clean Air Act on behalf of the NAACP. The company has recently raised $10 billion, split evenly between debt and equity.
