Enviros Head to Memphis for Another Dishonest Attack on American Industry

The subject of the rapid growth of AI technology, its associated datacenters, and how they will source the electricity required to meet their massive power needs has been one of hottest topics of discussion in the energy space for a year now. While many, like me, have commented at length about the logistics and technical issues involved in this rapidly expanding growth industry, few have thought about the role crass politics and radical activism will both inevitably play.

In recent weeks, a veritable poster child example of how cynical – and often dishonest – activism can intervene in and threaten to supersede these logistical and technical matters has arisen in Memphis, Tennessee. There, xAI, the tech company responsible for the creation and maintenance of the Grok AI tool featured at Elon Musk-owned X, operates a major datacenter. While waiting to be connected into the regional power grid managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), xAI has obtained its own behind-the-meter electricity from a suite of portable natural gas generators.