Local governments in Tennessee are pausing data center development after outcry from residents while officials determine how to regulate the resource-intensive facilities.
McMinnville and Coffee County, both rural areas southeast of Nashville, each unanimously passed moratoria on data centers on June 9, with other moratoria votes expected in Warren and Knox counties on June 22. In Nashville, more than 150 people attended a Planning Commission meeting to speak against planned data center developments near the Nashville Zoo and Fisk University. The capital city’s council passed a moratorium bill on its first of three readings on June 9, and a bill that would codify restrictions and requirements for data centers will next be considered by the Planning Commission on June 25.
McMinnville, Tennessee resident Kai Sage is one of several locals who recently took up the mantle against a planned 25 megawatt data center that would be located near her home and other residential neighborhoods…