What to know about Nashville's data center debate
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Without much fanfare, nine data centers were already up and running in Nashville and a 10th was under construction as the issue flew under the radar.
- Then came plans for a 69,000-square-foot data center next to the Nashville Zoo and a 100,000-square-foot data center and academic complex on the Fisk University campus.
Why it matters: What to do about data centers has become the great land-use debate in Nashville, as Metro Council pursues new guardrails and organizers rally to oppose the new projects.
Catch up quick: Metro leaders have thrown down a legal gauntlet to stop DC Blox from moving forward with its data center, which shares a property line with the zoo.
- Mayor Freddie O'Connell turned up the pressure by filing eminent domain legislation this week allowing the city to condemn the land and take ownership of the property.
- Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston and a lawyer for the zoo filed separate appeals with the Board of Zoning Appeals seeking to reverse a city administrator's decision to categorize the data center as office use.
- At a community meeting on Monday night, residents expressed concerns about Fisk's data center project, while others supported the plan because it would help the financially struggling university.
Yes, but: The debate about data centers is broader than those two projects. Metro Councilmember Rollin Horton tells Axios he was preparing his legislation to implement first-of-their-kind regulations before word about the Fisk or zoo-adjacent data centers became public.
Go deeper: What even is a data center?
What he's saying: "I think it's important to know that eminent domain protects a single parcel, and I think it's important that we provide permanent protections for all of Davidson County from some of the negative effects of data centers."
- Horton says he began working on the issue after seeing the fallout of data center projects in other places, including the large-scale center in Memphis.
The other side: Doug Sloan, attorney for DC Blox, says criticisms about the zoo-area project are based on fear, not facts.
- He says the project will only tap into the Metro water supply once and meet the city's regulations related to sound, light, stormwater and power usage.
- Supporters of data centers say they are needed at a macro level to power an AI-fueled economy. Data centers are a source of jobs during construction and a benefit to an array of technology-related businesses once they're operating.
The city could still be home to new data centers, Horton says, as long as they meet the new regulations proposed by his legislation.
The big picture: The proposal shows the unprecedented situation in which major cities find themselves. It's not just Nashville. Similar debates are raging in cities across the U.S. where local governments are pondering moratoriums and new guardrails for data centers.
- "This is not an anti-AI bill," Horton says. "It's a land-use bill, which regulates the negative externalities that we've seen from data centers elsewhere."
State of play: Nashville doesn't currently have any regulations specific to data centers.
To strike the balance between allowing data center development and protecting Nashville communities, Horton divided his legislation into three separate regulatory categories.
Procedures for new applications
Horton's plan defines data centers in Metro land-use policy for the first time and institutes a ban on centers over 500,000 square feet.
- For smaller centers, proposals must seek approval for a special exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals and hold a public hearing on the plan.
- This way, neighbors are aware of a project on the front end.
Restricting where data centers are located
Horton's regulations allow data centers smaller than 500,000 square feet in industrial zones.
- The legislation imposes buffers between data centers and sensitive areas like residential neighborhoods, day cares, prisons and mass transit lines.
Imposing new regulations
Nashville data centers that produce their own electricity would be prohibited from emissions-causing power generation on site under Horton's proposal.
- The bill imposes strict requirements on noise and light emissions and requires data centers to use a closed-loop water cooling system.
- Data center developers must also provide written notification that NES has reviewed their plans in response to concerns that the local power grid could be stressed.
What's next: Metro Council must sign off on the data center regulations. The public can weigh in on the plan at the July 7 meeting.
The bottom line: "It's frequently raised that we're in an artificial intelligence race with China and the United States needs to maintain our lead," Horton says. "But I think it's important that the U.S., and our community, lead not just in AI but in the health and quality of our communities."