Rumored Data Center Renders High Emotion

Data Centers have been a very contentious topic in White County the past few months. Just the other month, the City of Sparta placed Data Centers on a moratorium while the city did research on them, while the County Commission approved a resolution to ban Data Centers. Despite this ban, which had little legal weight without zoning restrictions, there have been rumors of a Data Center coming to White County, at Pleasant Hill Road.

Before sharing details, it should be noted that the one who purchased this property, the exact details of the operation, and what kind of data center this even is are all currently unconfirmed.

Kyle Goff, who had just been elected in last week’s election to be the new White County Executive, first shared the information Facebook after being informed of a rumored crypto data mining business being built on a 5-acre property.

Goff also shared the facts of House Bill 1847. The bill requires data centers of 50MW (megawatts) to perform a feasibility study and bear the cost of their infrastructure rather than burden the taxpayers.

As Goff puts it, “The problem is, 58 of the 60 data centers in TN are under 50MW.”

For reference as well, the rumored data center here in our county is only 4.9MW. While that still expresses a large amount of energy, it falls outside of any legislative requirements.

After this came to light, current Executive Denny Wayne Robinson, shared a statement on Facebook as well. In his post, Executive Robinson clarified two things: White County did not approve this data center, and that the resolution was passed against legal advice.

“White County did not approve, authorize, fund, or sign off on any infrastructure improvements that may be required for this site,” claimed Robinson. “Any suggestion or implication that I, or any other county official, knew about, assisted with, promoted, encouraged, or recruited this project is simply false.”

Regarding the Commission’s resolution, Executive Robinson said, “It is important to note that White County did pass a resolution banning data centers. I am currently reviewing what legal options, if any, may be available to the county to prevent or limit what is being proposed. However, I must also be honest with the public. That resolution was passed against legal advice and against my recommendation.”

The Expositor will continue to monitor this story and provide updates as they arrive. This matter of data centers has swept across the entire nation, and the majority of White Countians that have spoken up at Commission meetings, Facebook, and others that have spoken to us here at the office in person, have made it clear that many White Countians do not want to see an inch of these data centers come to the county. While these voices may not represent the whole, of course, it is clear that the opposition is loud and proud against AI data centers.