SpaceX Plans to Remove xAI's Illegal Turbines, But Not Until Mid-2027
The company running Elon Musk's AI data centers near Memphis says it will tear out 69 unpermitted gas turbines, replacing them with a permanent power plant. Nearby residents, already living in one of the most polluted regions in the US, will wait at least two more years for that to happen.
Key points
- SpaceX is currently running 69 unpermitted gas turbines to power xAI's Colossus data centers near Memphis, Tennessee.
- Removal won't be complete until July 2027, despite an ongoing lawsuit from the NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center.
- The replacement will be a permitted natural gas power plant with 41 turbines, generating up to 1.2 gigawatts of electricity.
- SpaceX plans to spend $2.8 billion on gas turbines for its data centers over the next three years, according to its IPO filing.
- The existing turbines can emit more than 2,000 tons of NOx, a smog-forming pollutant, per year.
SpaceX confirmed Thursday it will pull all 69 unpermitted gas turbines from xAI's Colossus data centers, a cluster of facilities running the AI models behind Elon Musk's Grok chatbot. July 2027 is when the last one goes.
Why are the turbines a problem?
Federal rules require environmental permits for equipment of this size running continuously. SpaceX argues the turbines are exempt because they remain on the trailers they arrived on, making them technically mobile. Regulators don't buy it: size and continuous use make permits mandatory, trailers or not.
Colossus sits just south of Memphis in Mississippi, in a corridor that already ranks among the most polluted in the country. These turbines can push out more than 2,000 tons of NOx a year, a gas that reacts with sunlight to form smog and aggravates conditions like asthma.
The NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center sued xAI over the permits earlier this year. SpaceX, which acquired xAI in February, is defending the case. Last month the Department of Justice weighed in on SpaceX's side, calling the turbines a matter of "national, economic and energy security." AI2Day first covered the NAACP's involvement on 31 July 2026; that Justice Department move makes a court-ordered shutdown much harder to win.
What replaces the turbines?
A permanent, permitted natural gas power plant. Mississippi state permit documents show the new facility will use 41 turbines ranging from 16.48 megawatts to 50 megawatts each, combining for 1.2 gigawatts, enough to power roughly one million average US homes.
SpaceX's IPO filing puts the broader spend in context: $2.8 billion on gas turbines across its data centers over three years. The AI power arms race is real; our earlier story found OpenAI planning $750 billion in infrastructure by 2030, anchored by a natural gas-heavy campus in Georgia.
Earlier this year Musk bought APR Energy, a firm specialising in temporary natural gas power. The turbines in APR's fleet appear different from those listed in the new Colossus plant permits, as TechCrunch first reported. That gap points to a separate, unannounced project.
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Current unpermitted turbines | 69 units |
| Planned removal deadline | July 2027 |
| New plant capacity | 1.2 gigawatts |
| New plant turbines | 41 units |
| Planned turbine spend (3 years) | $2.8 billion |
What does this mean for people near the site?
Residents in this already heavily polluted corridor keep living next to unpermitted turbines for at least two more years. The Justice Department's intervention makes a quick court-ordered shutdown less likely. If you live in the Memphis area and are worried about air quality, the EPA's AirNow tool lets you check daily pollution levels by zip code and get health guidance based on what's in your air.
Here's where I land on this: a powerful company broke environmental rules, got sued, and is now setting its own remediation schedule. Two years is a long time to breathe. Watch whether Mississippi enforces the new permits with any more teeth than the old rules got.
