For now, there will be no data center construction in Jackson, Mississippi. The City of Jackson is delaying any action regarding potential data center construction until it passes regulations, City Council President Brian Grizzell announced at a public hearing for community input about writing regulations for data center construction.
This comes after Grizzell’s May proposal that would have placed a six-month moratorium on data center construction in the city to give officials time to draft regulations.
“I believe tonight’s hearing laid the foundation for the work ahead,” Grizzell said in a June 22 press release. “The moratorium I wrote and introduced created the opportunity for this important conversation, and we remain committed to a transparent process that puts the people of Jackson first.”
Grizzell drafted the moratorium after watching surrounding cities attempt to regulate issues with their data centers post-construction. Ridgeland passed regulations on its data center in April, although construction there began in 2024.
‘We Don’t Want That Center Built in Our Area’
More than a dozen Jackson residents spoke in favor of regulating—or completely banning—data center construction in the City of Jackson at the June 22 public hearing.
About 80 residents were in attendance but a total of only 60 people, residents and reporters included, were allowed to enter the hearing due to a last-minute 30% occupancy limit drop imposed by the city’s fire marshal at the beginning of the public hearing. Roughly two dozen people gathered outside the meeting hall.
“What we see here today is community showing up out of deep concern for their human rights, and they are demanding accountability and transparency, and a right to decide what we want in our community, and many of us in this room, most definitely do not want another extractive industry in our community,” Ward 1 resident and Mississippi for a Just World Executive Director Candace Abdul-Tawwab said at the June 22 hearing.
Ward 2 resident Thomas Cheetham Jr. lives in the Ashley Estates neighborhood, near the Forest Avenue Extension where Saxum Investment Company, an out-of-state real estate firm, is asking Jackson to rezone 230 acres in the area for the construction of a potential data center.
“I can stand in my front door and look at this rezoning—if passed—and see the top of the data (center),” Cheetham told the Jackson City Council at the June 22 hearing. “We don’t want that center built in our area.”
Cheetham questioned why data center construction should be allowed in Jackson when the City has pre-existing industrial buildings available.
“You have enough old buildings, commercial buildings, in this city to go and move in one of those,” Cheetham said.
Other Jacksonians expressed a variety of concerns about potential data center construction, echoing concerns from residents living near data centers across the rural South—from air pollution and water pollution to initial construction dust, excess noise and increased demand on power grids.
The lawyer representing Saxum Investment Company, Robert Ireland, was the only audience member to speak in favor of data center construction at the June 22 public hearing.
Ireland did not discourage the city from adopting regulations on data centers.
“Jackson is not forced to choose between economic development and the health and welfare of its citizens,” Ireland said at the June 22 hearing. “…the City Council can enact standards that require that a project’s demands on utility and services can be met by existing infrastructure and will not have an adverse impact on the availability and cost of utilities or services used by existing residents and small businesses. Make them prove it to you.”
Moving Forward
The Jackson City Council is reviewing public comments from the June 22 meeting and working to develop a draft ordinance “…that addresses the concerns raised during the hearing while balancing the city’s economic and community interests,” Grizzell said in the press release.
At least one additional hearing will be held to get community input on the drafted ordinance.
“Council members anticipate that revisions and amendments will continue throughout the process to ensure the final ordinance reflects the needs and priorities of the people of Jackson,” Grizzell said in the press release.
Rezoning hearings for the Forest Avenue Extension site will continue to be delayed until Jackson passes data center-specific regulations, Jackson Director of Planning and Development Angela Brown said at the June 22 meeting.
“We will continue to postpone that (rezoning hearing) while we continue to research and understand the ordinance and other policies we will have in place around data centers,” Brown said.
While cities like San Francisco, Austin and Seattle led the way in terms of regulating how AI is used within their cities, local regulations on AI data center construction are not widely established across the nation.
Ridgeland passed AI data center regulations in May, but the text of their regulations are not yet available online.
Washington State’s Municipal Research Service Center created a comprehensive guide to data centers, local regulations and related issues in Washington, but a similar guide does not yet exist for Mississippi.
The National Conference of State Legislatures also maintains a database for AI-related legislation introduced at the state level across the country. AI-related laws passed law year can be found here.
A full-length video of the City of Jackson’s June 22 public hearing on data centers can be found here.
Follow the Mississippi Free Press’ coverage of data centers and read past stories here.
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