SpaceX has entered an agreed order with Mississippi regulators setting a fixed timeline as it builds a permanent 1.2 GW power plant
Ethan Swope / Bloomberg via Getty Images
SpaceX agreed to remove all 69 temporary gas turbines powering its xAI data center in Southaven, Mississippi, by July 2027, the company said Thursday. The agreement was formalized in an agreed order with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
The company said it will begin pulling turbines from the site as early as August 2026, with full removal completed by July 2027. SpaceX said the turbines are being replaced by a permanent 1.2 gigawatt power plant, currently under construction, that will consist of 41 gas turbines authorized under a Clean Air Act permit granted in March 2026.
SpaceX also said it is equipping the mobile turbines with selective catalytic reduction devices, which convert nitrogen oxides into nitrogen and water, and that current monitoring shows local air quality meets EPA standards. The company said it is investing millions of dollars in sound walls, silencers, and quieting technologies.
The Southaven facility has been at the center of legal and regulatory pressure. The NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center have sued xAI over the use of the unpermitted turbines, according to TechCrunch. The Justice Department moved to intervene and dismiss that suit, arguing the turbines were a matter of national, economic, and energy security.
SpaceX has maintained that it is permitted to operate the turbines without air permits because they remain on the trailers they were delivered on. Federal regulations, however, make clear that the turbines in question require permits based on their scale and operational role, irrespective of the surface they rest on, according to TechCrunch.
The turbines sit just south of Memphis in a region among the most polluted in the U.S. A letter Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) sent to Elon Musk last week demanding emissions and permitting details cited an analysis finding the Southaven turbines represent the largest source of pollution in the Memphis area — five times as polluting as the next largest source, the Memphis airport — and the largest emitter of nitrogen oxide across Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The letter said xAI erected the turbines without the required pollution permits, exposing nearby residents who are disproportionately Black to harmful emissions.
The acquisition of xAI by SpaceX closed in February. The turbines at the site carry a potential annual output of over 2,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, a key ingredient in smog formation.
Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
