Memphis council rejects 18-month data center moratorium in 6-6 tie, passes shorter pause instead

The Memphis City Council voted down an 18-month moratorium on new data centers and expansions Tuesday in a 6-6 tie, with one member absent for a family emergency. The measure, which grew out of years of protest over SpaceXAI's Colossus facilities and the gas turbines powering them, would also have set up a study of air, water and grid impacts. Council members instead passed a last-minute substitute ordinance that halts data center construction for 135 days and is meant to complement Mayor Paul Young's 90-day executive-order study, CBS News reported. Some members said they had no time to review it. The vote came two weeks after an Oct. 6 meeting ended in protests and a fight, and after a federal judge lifted a ban that had barred state Rep. Justin Pearson and other critics from council meetings.