MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A proposed one-year pause on new data centers in Memphis is still waiting on a final vote, after the City Council chose this week to put off the decision for a second time.
Council members voted 7-5 to postpone the 12-month moratorium, which Councilman J.B. Smiley Jr. sponsored. Rather than settle it, the body held three data center ordinances so members could keep working on them. The pause would freeze new development while the city drafts possible rules on water use, power demand, pollution and public input. Supporters say the year would give city officials room to weigh how the facilities affect health, the environment and surrounding neighborhoods.
More than 100 residents came to protest, and police cleared the chamber as demonstrators chanted. No one was arrested. Smiley noted that the measure had been in front of the council for months. Twelve of the 13 council seats were part of the split vote.
A final decision is now expected Oct. 20, the date of the next full council meeting. Memphis is home to several data center sites run by xAI, and those sites are the target of lawsuits claiming gas turbine permit violations, and some council members have warned that a pause could steer investment elsewhere in the region.
The Memphis vote comes as other local governments move faster. Shelby County passed first reading of its own moratorium for unincorporated areas on a 5-4 vote Monday, and Millington aldermen have already adopted a six-month pause on new applications for computing and off-grid power facilities.
