Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell signed a new executive order yesterday dedicated to addressing data center expansion in the city.
Although he cannot impose a moratorium on the data centers under state law, O’Connell’s executive order urges city departments to support legislation opposing the centers.
Several proposals are in motion and are set to make their way up to the Metro Council. Councilmember Rollin Horton previously introduced a bill that would prohibit the construction of data centers larger than 500,000 square feet and restrict where they could be built.
Effective immediately, with his new order, O’Connell is also directing several departments, including the Metro Codes, Health, Planning, Transportation, Water and Nashville Electric Service, to study the effects of the data centers on neighborhoods. The studies will specifically revolve around the environmental, infrastructure, economic and neighborhood impacts.
“We don’t want the potential negative impacts of large-scale data centers in our neighborhoods, so in partnership with the Metro Council, we’re taking action to ensure we put proper regulations in place before any more of these things are proposed,” said O’Connell per a press release. “With this Executive Order, we’ll work with Metro departments and the Metro Council to ensure Nashville remains a place where our residents’ health and safety always come first.”
The newest executive order comes amid plans for multiple data centers in the state. In Nashville, plans for an AI data center were proposed near the Nashville Zoo. The data center would potentially border the zoo, which houses more than 3,000 animals. If made, the two buildings would operate 24 hours a day, every day of the week, and would use approximately 50 megawatts. The rate is enough to power anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 homes.
A data center supported by Fisk University is also generating backlash. Late last week, Rep. Justin Jones publicly expressed his concern over a new data center set to be built by Fisk University. At a press conference, he asked the institution to release more information about its plan, saying it should be “guided by the legacy of John Lewis.”
The $400-million data center is set to be built near public housing, Fisk student dorms and a high school. Per Jones, these facilities tend to be in Black, Brown and low-income communities.
“If this project was so amazing, as they said, for universities, it would be at Vanderbilt,” said Jones. “But instead they’re coming to Fisk University, using this tactic of extraction and preying on our HBCU.”
Civil rights organization NAACP has previously spoken out against the data centers as well. Typically situated in Black and Brown neighborhoods, data centers have been linked with air pollution through unregulated methane gas turbines. They have also been linked to high levels of water use and are estimated to consume 12% of all U.S. electricity by 2030.
