xAI Plans Natural Gas Power Plant in Mississippi While NAACP Calls Foul on Election Day Permit Hearing

Q: What xAI Is Building

The proposed power plant would serve Macrohardrr, a large new data center xAI is building in Southaven — a 15-minute drive from its existing Colossus 1 and Colossus 2 data centers in Memphis, Tennessee. This comes after Musk merged xAI with SpaceX in a deal that valued the combined entity at $1.25 trillion. Training and running AI models requires massive amounts of electricity. Rising utility bills have been partly blamed on new data center power consumption, and at a White House meeting last week, tech executives including xAI signed non-binding pledges to supply their own power for their facilities.

By Jaspal March 10, 2026 Updated: March 10, 2026

Elon Musk's xAI is planning to build a massive natural gas power plant in Southaven, Mississippi, to fuel its AI data centers. The state's environmental authority has scheduled the key permit board meeting for Tuesday — which happens to be Election Day for the 2026 primaries — in Jackson, nearly 200 miles from the affected community. The NAACP and civil rights groups are not pleased.

The Scheduling Controversy

The NAACP tried to get the hearing delayed, arguing it was being rushed and would conflict with residents' ability to vote. They also pointed out that holding the meeting 200 miles from Southaven creates an "unnecessary financial burden to Black residents and individuals who live in low-income and other communities near the facility."

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) denied the request, saying its permit board "regularly meets on the second Tuesday of each month" and considers matters "on a statewide basis." The NAACP's response: "They're trying to sneak xAI's data center into the community's backyard and they don't care about the people living there."

What xAI Is Building

The proposed power plant would serve Macrohardrr, a large new data center xAI is building in Southaven — a 15-minute drive from its existing Colossus 1 and Colossus 2 data centers in Memphis, Tennessee. This comes after Musk merged xAI with SpaceX in a deal that valued the combined entity at $1.25 trillion.

Training and running AI models requires massive amounts of electricity. Rising utility bills have been partly blamed on new data center power consumption, and at a White House meeting last week, tech executives including xAI signed non-binding pledges to supply their own power for their facilities.

The Community Pushback

Residents have already been dealing with xAI's operations. At a public hearing on February 17, about 200 residents turned out to implore officials to deny xAI authorization. Physicians, parents, teachers, and local officials spoke about pollutants, noise levels, and health effects.

"We are slowly falling out of love with where we have decided to grow our family," said Taylor Logsdon, a mother of three. "It's no coincidence that this is happening now. And I feel it will only get worse."

A Floodlight investigation found that xAI has been operating more than a dozen "temporary" natural gas turbines concurrently in Southaven — the same approach previously used in Memphis. Environmental compliance experts have disputed xAI's claim that these turbines don't require federal permits. University of Tennessee research found that xAI's earlier turbine use added to air pollution in the Greater Memphis area.

Clean Air Act Concerns

In February, the NAACP filed a notice of intent to sue xAI over alleged Clean Air Act violations in Southaven. Residents report round-the-clock noise pollution and growing concerns about air quality and public health. The "temporary" turbines that xAI has operated without federal permits are central to the legal dispute.

The Bottom Line

The xAI power plant situation captures the tension between America's AI infrastructure buildout and the communities that bear its costs. Tech companies need massive amounts of electricity, and someone has to live next to the power plants that generate it. Scheduling a critical permit hearing on Election Day, 200 miles from the affected community, may be standard bureaucratic practice — but it doesn't look like a government trying to give residents a fair say. The NAACP lawsuit and continued community opposition suggest this fight is far from over.