Mar 17, 2026 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji
A 648-acre data center has been proposed in Clarksdale, northern Mississippi. On Monday, city officials held an informational meeting on a potential project planned for agricultural land between the Sunflower River and Tallahatchie Street.
The city’s board of commissioners had considered a rezoning proposal for the data center earlier on March 10, but postponed its decision to “allow any negotiated conditions for any potential data center” to be considered.
The development criteria are stringent, mandating a one-time $5 million impact fee alongside the full cost of utility infrastructure upgrades. Beyond financial obligations, developers must secure emissions permits, implement rigorous site safety measures, and maintain a mandatory 1,000-foot (305m) buffer zone from nearby residential neighborhoods
Views on the proposed data center are split. Supporters say the campus could generate meaningful tax revenue for the community, while critics raise concerns about its energy and water demands, with some also alleging corruption among local officials.
Mississippi’s government sees the tax revenue brought in by data centers as crucial to the state’s development.
Governor Tate Reeves went as far as to say that nationwide calls for a data center moratorium were motivated by those “yearning to submit our society to outside forces, mobs, international councils, or communist China.
"I don’t want to go gently. I love this country, and want her to rise. That’s why Mississippi has become the home of the world’s most impressive supercomputers. We are committed to America and American power.
“We know that being the hub of the world’s most awesome technology will inevitably bring prosperity and authority to our state. There is nobody better than Mississippians to wield it,” said Reeves.
The most prominent of these is xAI’s controversial Colossus facilities, which are located in neighboring Tennessee but are powered by gas turbines in Southaven, Mississippi. The company just received the go-ahead for 41 of these turbines last Wednesday.