Overview

• The Shelby County Health Department permit allows xAI to run 15 Solar SMT-130 natural gas turbines generating up to 247 megawatts through 2027
• Permit conditions mandate specific emissions controls and semiannual reporting on pollutants including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter and formaldehyde
• The NAACP and Southern Environmental Law Center issued a 60-day notice to sue and intend to challenge both the permit and xAI’s earlier unpermitted operation of up to 35 turbines
• The decision has revived disputes over whether mobile gas turbines fall under county or EPA authority and the adequacy of local air-quality testing protocols
• xAI’s Colossus supercomputer campus is located in Boxtown, a predominantly Black neighborhood already facing high asthma and cancer rates linked to industrial emissions