❯ SpaceX Commits to Removing 69 Unpermitted Memphis Gas Turbines by July 2027, Switching to a Permanent Power Plant

DEMOLITION 2027According to TechCrunch, SpaceX has reached an agreement with Tennessee’s environmental agency: the 69 unpermitted gas turbines powering the Colossus data center will be dismantled starting August 2026, with full removal wrapped up by July 2027. They will be replaced by a 1.2-gigawatt permanent power plant approved back in March.

WHY UNPERMITTEDThe controversy dates back to last year. These methane gas turbines went into operation without the permits required by the Clean Air Act. In April, the NAACP filed a complaint against xAI and its subsidiary MZX Tech, arguing that the 27 turbines powering Colossus 2 were operating illegally; the Southern Environmental Law Center went further, calling the operation “an illegal power plant.” The Memphis area is already among the most polluted regions in the U.S., and these turbines carry a potential nitrogen oxide emissions load of more than 2,000 tons per year. The replacement is not a move away from fossil fuels — the new plant will consist of 41 gas turbines with individual capacities ranging from 16.48 to 50 megawatts. This time, though, the paperwork is in order.

TIMELAGWhat this agreement actually buys is one year of operating time: from the outbreak of the controversy to full removal, the unpermitted turbines can keep burning for nearly another year, while Colossus’s compute capacity never skips a day. That hands every AI data center under construction a replicable playbook — plug in first, get permits later. Measured against construction delays, the penalties often look like the cheaper line item. The pressure falls on local environmental agencies’ enforcement pace, as they face an industry that moves far faster than the permitting process.

▪ SIGNALFines can be budgeted; construction schedules cannot wait — that is the real exchange rate between data centers and regulators.