Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian | Samuel Hardiman

What we do and don't know about TVA's data center rate hikes

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 04:00:03 -0500

When the TVA Board of Directors approved the new rate class for data centers in Memphis on Aug. 20, it held back some important information.

Saturday's storm 'wreaked havoc' on the MLGW system

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 22:23:35 -0500

Memphis Light, Gas and Water CEO Doug McGowen said the storm that blew in Saturday evening was the 7th most destructive by outage minutes in the utility’s history.

TVA hikes electric rates on Memphis data centers

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 22:51:59 -0500

Data centers across the Tennessee Valley, including SpaceXAI’s sprawling Memphis operations, will soon face steeper electric bills and must pay far more to access the broader electric grid.

Data centers could soon pay full cost of power infrastructure, TVA CEO says

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 22:50:57 -0500

Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Mike Skaggs said the change would, in his opinion, put TVA ahead of other utilities in the country in charging data centers for their costs.

SpaceXAI asks for more power — this time from TVA

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 15:21:11 -0500

SpaceX’s artificial intelligence division asked TVA to directly supply more electricity to its Colossus II campus, which stretches between Memphis and Southaven.

Piece of Grizzlies' funding moves forward

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:22:43 -0500

Memphis Light, Gas and Water has amended an agreement to send funds annually to the City of Memphis.

Council committee passes data center pause

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 06:02:33 -0500

The proposed Memphis data center moratorium would block the issuance of building permits or site plans for new data centers in the city, according to a copy of the ordinance.

Memphis City Council to consider data center moratorium

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:25:39 -0500

Memphis, a city known nationwide for SpaceXAI, may take legislative steps to pause data center development. All of Elon Musk’s existing local data centers are in industrial districts and are unlikely to be affected by an ordinance.

Lowery looking inside and outside county government to assemble cabinet

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:31:06 -0500

Shelby County Mayor-elect Mickell Lowery said that while he doesn’t think 25 days is enough time to assemble a team, he will be deliberate on appointments.

SpaceXAI sues contractor, alleges overbilling and fraud

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Fri, 7 Aug 2026 17:46:45 -0500

SpaceXAI alleges that Darana Hybrid and its CEO engaged in a practice of overbilling to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Molder to face Hatcher in 5th District

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Fri, 7 Aug 2026 06:04:19 -0500

Also, two Memphians — Heidi Kuhn and Marquita Bradshaw — quickly secured Democratic nominations Thursday, Aug. 6.

Brent Taylor wins Republican nomination for 9th District, will face Pearson

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Thu, 6 Aug 2026 23:19:47 -0500

State Sen. Brent Taylor continued his political ascendance Thursday night, winning the 9th Congressional District Republican nomination.

SpaceXAI could have a lot more data centers this time next year, Musk says

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Tue, 4 Aug 2026 17:15:52 -0500

The company operates four data centers in the Mid-South. Three of those data centers are powered, in part, by a controversial power plant the company built in Southaven.

City of Memphis looks to save money on interest

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Tue, 4 Aug 2026 16:33:31 -0500

The City of Memphis is looking to refinance about $150 million in debt.

SpaceXAI made a lot of news last week. Here's a breakdown.

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Mon, 3 Aug 2026 16:55:18 -0500

Two days last week brought a dizzying array of headlines about SpaceXAI’s operations in the Mid-South. So let’s catch up and break down why it all matters and how it fits into the bigger picture.

Something big could become Colossus' neighbor

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Sat, 1 Aug 2026 15:37:31 -0500

A real estate company is looking into building something big on undeveloped land near SpaceXAI’s Colossus data center.

SpaceXAI contractor said company owes it $570M

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 18:15:49 -0500

The CEO of an Ohio-based industrial contractor said SpaceXAI still owes his company about 40% of its roughly $1.5 billion total bill.

SpaceXAI agrees to emissions monitoring for MS power plant

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 08:49:56 -0500

SpaceXAI now has a clear regulatory roadmap for retiring the 69 natural gas turbines it operates without air emissions permits in Southaven.

SpaceXAI agrees to remove Mississippi turbines

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 21:31:22 -0500

SpaceXAI said Thursday, July 30, that it and the State of Mississippi had entered an agreement for winding down some of the company’s sprawling power plant operations in Southaven.

SpaceXAI buys 10 acres in Southaven

hardiman@dailymemphian.com (Samuel Hardiman) — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 18:19:51 -0500

The company’s sprawling campus stretches across the Tennessee-Mississippi state line and includes three data centers.

Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian | Samuel Hardiman

What we do and don't know about TVA's data center rate hikes

Saturday's storm 'wreaked havoc' on the MLGW system

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TVA hikes electric rates on Memphis data centers

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Data centers could soon pay full cost of power infrastructure, TVA CEO says

SpaceXAI asks for more power — this time from TVA

Piece of Grizzlies' funding moves forward

Council committee passes data center pause

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Memphis City Council to consider data center moratorium

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Lowery looking inside and outside county government to assemble cabinet

SpaceXAI sues contractor, alleges overbilling and fraud

Molder to face Hatcher in 5th District

Brent Taylor wins Republican nomination for 9th District, will face Pearson

SpaceXAI could have a lot more data centers this time next year, Musk says

City of Memphis looks to save money on interest

SpaceXAI made a lot of news last week. Here's a breakdown.

Something big could become Colossus' neighbor

SpaceXAI contractor said company owes it $570M

SpaceXAI agrees to emissions monitoring for MS power plant

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SpaceXAI agrees to remove Mississippi turbines

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SpaceXAI buys 10 acres in Southaven