NAACP, SELC Condemn Mississippi Approval of xAI Power Plant, Regulators Ignore Public Disapproval

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 10, 2026

Contact: Chyna Fields, [email protected] | Eric Hilt, [email protected]

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. - On Tuesday, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued an air permit to xAI, allowing the company to operate dozens of polluting methane gas turbines at its facility in Southaven, Mississippi. The reckless decision violates the agency's own policies and ignores significant concerns raised by community members about the impact xAI's personal power plant will have on their air and quality of life. The decision also came despite calls to move the hearing, which was held on Election Day and nearly three hours away from impacted communities.

In order to power its massive Colossus 2 data center in Memphis, Tennessee, xAI is planning to run 41 gas turbines - essentially a personal power plant - at a site just across the state line in Southaven, Mississippi. The sheer number of turbines would make the facility one of the largest fossil fuel power plants in the state of Mississippi and one of the area's biggest polluters.

Concerningly, this permit decision comes just three weeks after the permit comment period ended. This absurdly short timeline shows that MDEQ is seemingly more concerned about rubber-stamping xAI's air permit than it is about having a dialogue with the public or protecting the health of North Mississippi and Memphis families. Internal documents from MDEQ and EPA reveal that the agency was under immense pressure to quickly approve xAI's air permit.

"We are outraged that, despite the community's clear demand to move the Election Day hearing, MDEQ chose to bulldoze through a decision that silenced the very residents most harmed by it," said Abre' Conner, Director of Environmental and Climate Justice at the NAACP. "The rushed, superficial responses dropped just this weekend completely ignore our community's concerns and twist the law to fit their agenda. It's shocking that a state agency and board would refuse to address an unnecessary civic crisis, prioritizing convenience over justice. Their weekend emails, blatant dismissal of public voices, and the state's relationship with xAI expose exactly who MDEQ and the State truly serve. This is why our fight to hold polluters and billionaires accountable is inseparable from the battle to stop dirty data. When agencies won't stand up for public health and justice, the community must - and will - lead the charge."

The permit issued by MDEQ has a number of serious flaws that violate federal law, run afoul of the agency's own policies, and put families in North Mississippi and Memphis at risk. Alarmingly, the permit likely underestimates the amount of pollution coming from the site and it fails to show that xAI's 41 turbines will not cause dangerous levels of air pollution. The permit also ignores xAI's current operation of up to 27 unpermitted turbines at the site in violation of the Clean Air Act. In fact, in response to comments pointing out this problem, MDEQ wrongly claimed that all of the company's existing unlawful turbines have pollution controls installed.

"We're extremely disappointed in MDEQ's decision to greenlight this inadequate permit for xAI's power plant, which fails to address the significant concerns about the impact of these added turbines will have on communities in North Mississippi as well as South Memphis," Patrick Anderson, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said. "Mississippi state regulators appear to be more interested in fast-tracking xAI's personal power plant than conducting a thorough review of its impacts and having meaningful engagement with the families that will be forced to live with this dirty facility - and its pollution - in their communities."

Gas turbines like the ones used by xAI release staggering amounts of smog-forming pollution and harmful chemicals like formaldehyde. Communities in North Mississippi and Memphis already struggle with air quality problems, with both DeSoto and Shelby County receiving an 'F' grade from the American Lung Association for smog. xAI's 41 turbines would likely make it the largest source of smog-forming pollution in the area, compounding the air pollution burden on families throughout the region and threatening the health of people in nearby communities.

The turbines would also release large amounts of fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5. Because fine particulate matter travels deep into the lungs and bloodstream, it significantly increases the risk of asthma, heart attacks, respiratory disease, strokes, and other serious health conditions. A recent independent study found that particle pollution from the operation of xAI's proposed permanent gas turbines would measurably increase health risks for families throughout the area - even in places as far away as Germantown, North Memphis, and Hernando - and could result in an estimated $30-$44 million in annual health damages each year.

The Permit Board's decision comes just weeks after hundreds of community members packed a permit hearing held by MDEQ to express their concern about the threats xAI's power plant pose to their health and wellbeing. At the hearing, no community member spoke in support of MDEQ's draft permit for the xAI facility in Southaven.

###

About NAACP

The NAACP advocates, agitates, and litigates for the civil rights due to Black America. Our legacy is built on the foundation of grassroots activism by the biggest civil rights pioneers of the 20th century and is sustained by 21st century activists. From classrooms and courtrooms to city halls and Congress, our network of members across the country works to secure the social and political power that will end race-based discrimination. That work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people. We are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities.

NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund - also referred to as the NAACP-LDF - was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but now operates as a completely separate entity.

About Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC)

The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation's most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region's air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 250, including more than 160 legal and policy experts, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. selc.org