Memphis city council has voted down a one-year moratorium on new data centres and instead passed a substitute ordinance pausing their construction for 135 days, CBS News reports. Some councillors said they had received the replacement measure at short notice. The city has become a hub for data centres built by Elon Musk's SpaceXAI, starting with its Colossus 1 facility in 2024.
The shorter pause is meant to complement Mayor Paul Young's executive order for a 90-day study of data centre impacts. The rejected moratorium would have allowed time for permanent zoning rules and studies of air quality, water, power and noise. Residents and campaigners have opposed the developments for years, and a lawsuit by the NAACP and others over gas turbines powering the company's sites in Southaven, Mississippi, is continuing after a judge blocked a bid to dismiss it.
Source: CBS News