SpaceXAI to remove temporary gas turbines at Mississippi data center by 2027

SpaceXAI has agreed to begin clearing out all 69 temporary gas turbines powering its expansive data center complex, bringing an end to a protracted regulatory battle but leaving the mobile units in place until July 2027. According to reporting from Gizmodo, the company announced on Thursday, 30 July 2026, that it entered into an agreed order with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to establish a fixed removal schedule. The transition follows intense scrutiny over the facilities, which power artificial intelligence infrastructure operating across state lines in Mississippi and Tennessee.

The power infrastructure at the former Duke Energy plant on Stanton Road in Southaven, Mississippi, sits directly across the state line from the Colossus 2 data center in Memphis, Tennessee. These facilities provide the immense computational power necessary to train and operate xAI’s Grok models. Beyond its internal workloads, the infrastructure supports computing capacity leases to outside firms such as Anthropic. The Stanton Road site is also slated to power additional regional developments, including data centers designated as Macrohardrr and minihard.

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The announcement follows a steady escalation in the number of mobile power units deployed at the site. According to local reporting published by Broncoswire Eu, the count of temporary turbines expanded significantly after the company acquired the property. Review of correspondence by Sportsbookwire Eu revealed that 60 turbines were present at the site in June, with 52 actively operating. Of those 60, only 14 featured Selective Catalytic Reduction technology.

SpaceXAI defended its initial deployment by citing a temporary-mobile exemption. Because the gas turbines were mounted on flatbed trailers, the company argued they could operate without an air permit for up to a year under a decision mirroring local exemptions in Shelby County. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency updated its Federal Register to require permits for all combustion gas turbines regardless of their temporary status, creating widespread regulatory uncertainty.

Environmental and civil rights organizations challenged the operations aggressively. In April, the NAACP, alongside the Southern Environmental Law Center, Young, Gifted & Green, and the Safe and Sound Coalition, filed legal actions and administrative appeals. They alleged that the facility operated unpermitted equipment that polluted surrounding communities. The Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP subsequently filed a preliminary injunction in federal court seeking an immediate halt to the emissions.

Despite these challenges, the Justice Department sided with the company in court filings. Government lawyers argued that shutting down the power supply would threaten national, economic, and energy security by disrupting artificial intelligence systems supporting military operations. Meanwhile, SpaceX acquired xAI ahead of its public offering, highlighting the immense energy demands of its overarching market strategy in corporate disclosures.

Community backlash in Southaven has centered on noise and air quality concerns. SpaceXAI stated that it plans to spend millions of dollars on sound walls, silencers, and next-generation quieting technologies. Yet environmental advocates remain sharply critical of the newly finalized removal timeline.

"While xAI claims it is ‘rapidly removing’ its unpermitted gas turbines from its Southaven site, in reality the opposite is true: the company has been continually expanding its already-enormous Colossus Gas Plant, adding nine new polluting gas turbines and bringing the current total number of turbines to 69,"

Kym Meyer, Southern Environmental Law Center Litigation Director, via Broncoswire Eu

Meyer argued that the consent order validates continued pollution rather than offering immediate relief, calling for the site to be shut down immediately rather than permitted to operate through the middle of next year.

Key Timeline and Developments

• August 2025: MDEQ grants a temporary-mobile exemption allowing unpermitted turbine operation for 364 days.
• March 2026: MDEQ approves a Prevention of Significant Deterioration Clean Air Act permit for a permanent 1.2 gigawatt power plant consisting of 41 permanent turbines.
• April 2026: NAACP and environmental groups file lawsuits and appeals over unpermitted operations and pollution concerns.
• July 2026: The total number of temporary mobile turbines on the Southaven site reaches 69. SpaceXAI announces an agreed order with MDEQ on July 30 to remove all temporary units by July 2027.

Federal lawmakers are also stepping up oversight of the energy-intensive AI boom. For broader economic context on how massive technological spending impacts corporate balance sheets, see Business coverage. Congressional scrutiny continues to mount in parallel with local environmental battles.

What happens next centers on pending federal inquiries and upcoming deadlines. On July 28, Representative Frank Pallone Jr., ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, sent a formal letter to Elon Musk demanding comprehensive documentation regarding data center operations in Mississippi and Tennessee. Musk and company officials face a compliance deadline of Tuesday, 11 August 2026, to provide the requested operational analysis and state correspondence. At the same time, SpaceXAI is scheduled to begin pulling its first temporary units offline in August 2026 while continuing construction on its permanent 1.2 gigawatt facility.