Memphis Adopts 135-Day Data Center Moratorium After Yearlong Ban Fails

On October 20, 2026, the Memphis City Council voted down a proposed one-year moratorium on new data centers and instead approved a 135-day construction ban to pause projects while officials study their local impacts.^[1]

Council members and proponents said the shorter ordinance was intended to complement Mayor Paul Young's separate 90-day executive order to study data center development and its effects on the city.^[1]

SpaceXAI operates or is building multiple data centers in the Memphis-Southaven region, and some of those facilities are supplied in part by a methane-fueled power plant that is the subject of an NAACP pollution lawsuit.^[1] Earlier on October 20, a Mississippi federal judge blocked the Trump administration's bid to dismiss that NAACP-led suit, allowing the case to move forward.^[1]

Council members had proposed the one-year moratorium to create a longer window for study and rulemaking, but they settled on 135 days as a compromise to pause construction while officials and legal teams weigh environmental and zoning concerns.^[1]

The 135-day ban now gives Memphis time to coordinate the mayor's review with ongoing litigation and to consider whether stricter local controls or zoning changes are needed before new data center projects proceed.^[1]

1. CBS News