Visual: Mapping Tennessee’s current and proposed data centers

Tennessee is at the forefront of data center proliferation and is set to continue receiving significant investments in new projects which could lead to higher energy costs, according to a report released by ThinkTennessee.

Over the past decade, Tennessee has benefited from a shift in tech-sector investment away from California toward more tax- and regulatory-friendly states. Before the latest Artificial Intelligence data center boom, Tennessee was already seeing new data center construction, as evidenced by Google’s 2018 building of its data center in Clarksville and Facebook’s 2020 Gallatin facility.

Construction kicked into a higher gear when xAI, an Elon Musk company, started building one of the largest data centers by power consumption in Memphis in 2024.

But over the past two years, there has been a growing backlash against data centers, with communities across the state trying to impose moratoriums on their construction due to noise pollution, environmental concerns and potential strain on the power grid.

Local Tennessee officials are putting data center plans on ice to consider regulations

“Electric bills are rising more prominently in areas with data centers, and residential customers’ bills are increasing while commercial customers’ bills decrease,” ThinkTennessee’s report found when looking at electricity costs increasing from 2023 to 2024.

The number of data centers in Tennessee varies by tracker. The two reliable trackers are DataCenter Map, which lists 63 in Tennessee, and Baxtel, which lists 58. Both are industry trackers. ThinkTennessee cited Baxtel.

Data Center Map is better at tracking smaller facilities, while Baxtel has greater focus on tracking cryptocurrency-related facilities.

Combined, they show 62 unique data centers in operation and another 16 proposed facilities.