The Data Center Most Likely to Get Investigated by a Democratic Congress

1. Richland Township, Louisiana - The Meta Hyperion project is suddenly now a central focus of activists and media coverage, just as it is seeking environmental permits for a key gas pipeline.

• A number of painful investigations about Hyperion published in the last week: a New York Times profile of the local negotiations surrounding the deal that involved interviews with more than 40 people, painting the entire development as secretive. Then came an article from States Newsroom’s Louisiana affiliate claiming Governor Jeff Landry’s staff signed more than 100 NDAs, including some with Meta. Environmental advocates are trying to marshal up more public opposition to the project; on Monday, Earthjustice and advocates they’re working with on the ground in the Bayou are holding a press conference about Hyperion.
• Why all the attention now? For starters, the state regulatory commission is considering whether to approve more gas plants at the project site. In addition, a Federal Register notice published last week disclosed ETC Tiger filed paperwork with the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission to get authorization for a gas pipeline that’ll pump roughly 1 million dekatherms per day to Hyperion. (A single dekatherm is a common measurement for gas transport volume equal to about 1,000,000 BTUs, so you do the math on how massive that pipeline is going to be.)
• Louisiana is a hot bed for environmental justice advocacy because of Cancer Alley and a long legacy of offshore oil and gas development. I expect that as we saw under Trump 1.0, this amount of media coverage will lead to this project becoming an oversight topic in Congress, especially given the likelihood of prolonged federal review.

2. Memphis, Tennessee – Hyperion won’t be the first data centers that House Democrats go after if they retake the lower chamber in Congress though – that looks like it’ll be xAI’s Colossus projects. Congrats, Elon!

• House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone sent a letter to SpaceXAI this week “demanding answers” about the company’s two data centers in the Memphis metro region. As you may be well aware, the facilities are subject to a headline-grabbing lawsuit from the ACLU alleging significant Clean Air Act violations stemming from diesel gas operation without proper permits. The Trump administration has intervened in the case arguing these facilities are necessary for national security reasons so they didn’t need permits.
• The oversight letter makes it plain what Pallone is up to, requesting SpaceXAI provide “all communications and records relating to Colossus 1 and Colossus 2” between company employees and any government officials “including the White House.” Plainly, if Democrats retake the House in November, we’ll likely get a big congressional probe into the federal government’s handling of the data centers.
• One of the primary voices fighting those projects is also running for Congress this year. State Rep. Justin Pearson is on the ballot Aug. 6 in his Memphis area district’s Democratic congressional primaries. He’s endorsed by major environmental groups and polling ahead in the race. If he wins, all the more reason for Democrats to go for Elon’s jugular early.

3. Clark and Nye Counties, Nevada – The federal government’s decision to use an environmental review for a solar farm on a data center instead, which I scooped earlier this week, quickly became a national story. Now the fight against the move is coming into focus.

• The Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club’s legal challenge has begun with an administrative appeal to the Bureau of Land Management. This will then be decided by the Interior Department Board of Land Appeals, where the governing administrative judges are split between appointees from Democratic and Republican administrations. At its core, the appeal hinges on the reused review failing to include any new environmental impacts and an inability for the public to comment. Boulder City will make a similar appeal. I do not know how this will go but it’s entirely possible litigation will follow, whatever decision is made here.
• As this challenge proceeds, the Bureau of Land Management has begun reviewing a separate solar project overseen by Clearway, the renewables developer behind the solar-farm-for-data-center switch. The Mosey solar project is now scheduled to get its draft environmental impact state in early 2027.

4. Suffolk County, New York – Last but not least, we have to talk about the battery fire mess on Long Island because it’s a disaster in the making.

• The Suffolk County Water Authority is now suing NextEra and National Grid claiming they have failed to properly contain groundwater contamination from a 2023 fire at a battery plant they oversee in Long Island. Allegedly, these companies fought the fire but let the water drain into the soil – a big no no. (Both companies deny any wrongdoing.)
• Unfortunately for the battery storage industry, the project is in Hauppauge – hometown of EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, who visited late last year to rail against future BESS facilities coming to town. If I was working with a battery developer right now, I’d be watching to see if this scene becomes a new Trumpian boogeyman for the MAGA crowd.

5. Montgomery County, Maryland – Bonus for you: my home county just instituted an 18-month moratorium on new data centers. I don’t really have much to add except, if the backlash has come to my neighborhood it’ll probably hit yours sooner rather than later.