If you’ve been keeping up with my writing about xAI in Memphis, you’ll know that the company is relying on natural gas turbines to generate power to keep Grok up and running. Those turbines have been at the center of national coverage, and the issue isn’t going away, with xAI and its partners set to use turbines to power the company’s new data center, set to come online at any point.

There have been legal and ethical debates over these turbines and the pollution they cause. That’s where Andrew R. Chow at TIME comes in, with a new report:

Researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, at the request of TIME, ran an analysis on the air quality in South Memphis over the last couple of years, based on public satellite data from NASA and the European Space Agency. They found that average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide have increased by 3% when comparing the periods before June 2024 and afterward. They also found that peak nitrogen dioxide concentration levels have increased by 79% from pre-xAI levels in areas immediately surrounding the data center, and by 9% in nearby Boxtown.

Because high concentrations of air pollutants pose greater health risks than lower concentrations, the researchers said, focusing on these spikes—rather than just averages—offers more meaningful insight into potential health impacts. It’s the first major effort to quantify the turbines’ environmental impact using publicly available data.

The story goes on to quote a friend of mine:

Austin Dalgo, an academic primary care physician in South Memphis, calls the jump in peak nitrogen dioxide concentration levels “alarming,” and believes that they “significantly increase the risk to residents’ health.”  The EPA writes that a high concentration of NO2 can aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma.  

“The xAI turbines are leading to a public health crisis in Memphis by releasing nitrogen oxides—pollutants known to directly harm the lungs,” Dalgo tells TIME. “These emissions pose the greatest risk to our city’s most vulnerable residents, including children, the elderly, and individuals with respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD.”

xAI’s reliance on gas turbines seems to have shrunk at its first data center, but the second, larger site is poised to require even more of the equipment.

Chow’s entire article is worth your time.

MLGW CEO Doug McGowen was recently interviewed on our local PBS affiliate about the utility company’s role in xAI’s newest Memphis data center, as reported by The Daily Memphian, whose CEO interviewed McGowen:

McGowen said the company had initially discussed with MLGW a 1.1 gigawatt load for the project — or the equivalent of 33% of MLGW on a peak day. He said MLGW does not have that amount of power available, and no utility nationwide does either.

That fact likely pushed xAI toward a potential natural gas plant.

xAI and its partners just received approval to run up to 12 gas-powered turbines in Southaven, which is about a mile south of the new datacenter, just over the Tennessee/Mississippi state line.

The company uses similar units to power Colossus 1. At that site, the company is (or was) reportedly relied on roughly 35 turbines, despite local leaders and permitting paperwork saying just 15 were in use. xAI is currently being sued over this issue.

McGowen’s interview comes after a July 22 statement from MLG&W stating that it was providing no power to Colossus 2, and after reports as early as June that xAI was starting to collect turbines for the site.

It also comes after a press release issued by the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce on May 8:

xAI is demobilizing turbines in Shelby County and has no plans to site any turbines at its Tulane [Colossus 2] location. The company continues to evaluate various power solutions for its Memphis facilities while working within all applicable regulatory frameworks.

As I wrote at the time, this statement is plainly untrue, and even in May, xAI was working toward the situation that is now unfolding.

Back to the interview:

“Our responsibility before we connect any new customers is to ensure the reliability and availability of power for our existing customers. And if we can’t guarantee that, then we will not allow anybody to connect to the grid,” McGowen said. “The practical reality of things is we just don’t have 1,000 megawatts of power lying around. So if you want to put your data center here, you’re going to have to generate power on your own and connect it to your system.

“The question then becomes if you want to be connected to the larger grid for when your power plant goes down, and that is the technical challenge that TVA is working on today,” McGowen said.

TVA, in a statement, did not say whether the federal agency would be serving xAI at all.

With Colossus 2 expected to be at least twice as big as the Colossus 1, residents in Southaven and nearby areas are going to be subjected to the same pollution concerns as the folks around xAI’s first set of turbines are.