MEMPHIS, Tenn. - SpaceXAI has said it will begin removing the temporary gas turbines powering its data center operations near Memphis in August 2026, with removal complete by July 2027.
The company says 69 turbines are covered, and that a 1.2 gigawatt power plant it is building under a Clean Air Act permit will replace them.
The removal proceeds under an agreed order with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
What the turbines are and why they matter
The turbines are gas-fired units that supplied electricity directly to the company's operations, outside the regulated grid. Their emissions and their siting are the subject of a Clean Air Act lawsuit brought by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice on behalf of the NAACP, alleging the company operated them without required permits or pollution controls.
Those allegations have not been decided by any court, and the company is entitled to contest them.
The United States Department of Justice has moved to intervene in that suit on the company's side, arguing in its motion that the underlying technology has been used in American military operations and that the litigation threatens national, economic and energy security.
Residents in Whitehaven and in Southaven, Mississippi have separately raised nuisance and noise claims. The facilities sit in and near predominantly Black neighborhoods that carry an existing pollution burden.
The part worth reading carefully
A removal timeline is a commitment, and a commitment is not the same as a completed act.
Three things about this one are worth holding onto.
The schedule is nearly a year long, running from this month to July 2027. Whatever the turbines emit, they emit for most of that period.
The replacement plant is permitted, which is a meaningful distinction from the turbines' contested status, but a permitted plant of 1.2 gigawatts is itself a substantial new source. Permitted does not mean without effect.
And the agreed order is with Mississippi regulators. Memphis is in Tennessee. The extent to which a Tennessee resident has any enforcement standing under a Mississippi agreed order is a real question and not an obvious one.
Why It Matters for Memphis
This is the same campus that appears in three other open threads this newsroom is tracking: a $136.9 million pair of contractor liens recorded at the Shelby County Register of Deeds on July 30 and 31, a congressional demand for site access, and a state law governing how data center power costs are allocated between companies and ratepayers.
The connective question across all of them is who bears the cost of this development and who has the authority to say so. On the turbines specifically, the answer at the moment is an agreed order in another state, a federal suit the Justice Department has entered on the company's side, and a company timeline that ends eleven months from now.
The company's position is straightforward and worth stating: it is removing the equipment at issue, it is replacing it with a permitted source, and it is doing so under an agreement with the regulator that has jurisdiction. That is more than a defendant is obligated to do while litigation is pending.
Accountability Watch
Who is accountable: SpaceXAI, which operates the turbines and set the timeline. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which entered the agreed order. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, which has declined to set national environmental standards for data centers. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, for any equipment on the Tennessee side.
What is pending: Commencement of removal in August 2026, and completion by July 2027. The Clean Air Act suit and the Justice Department's motion to intervene.
Timeline: Removal stated to begin August 2026 and complete July 2027. Clean Air Act suit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice on behalf of the NAACP. Justice Department motion to intervene filed 2026.
Status as of August 3, 2026: Announced. The 901 Report has not confirmed that removal has begun.
How to verify: Request the agreed order from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which will state the milestones and any enforcement provisions. The Clean Air Act docket is in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. The replacement plant's Clean Air Act permit and its emissions limits are public records held by the permitting authority.