Jackson business leaders urged to base data center opinions ‘on the facts’

By Katherine Lin | Originally published by Mississippi Today

Economic development officials on Wednesday urged Jackson business leaders to craft informed opinions about data centers and consider their impact on Mississippi’s infrastructure, economy and communities.

“You are entitled to all of your own opinions,” said Jeff Rent, president and CEO of the Greater Jackson Partnership, which organized the panel, “We are a nation of varying opinions. But I hope you will learn something today and base your opinion of data centers on the facts.”

Data centers are facing increasing pushback from residents in Mississippi and across the country as companies are rushing to meet the expected artificial intelligence demand for computing power. Residents are concerned about the impact on electricity rates, noise, water and the surrounding environment. There are seven data centers being built in Mississippi, with more potentially in the pipeline. In the Jackson Metro area, there are two in Madison County, one in Clinton and one in Rankin. 

State and local officials are eyeing more regulations. The Jackson City Council passed the state’s first data center moratorium and other cities have passed zoning regulations. Earlier this year, a legislative task force on artificial intelligence expressed concerns about the potential impact of data centers.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there on social media, a lot of things that happen in other communities that are not relevant to our communities,” said Garrett Wright, director of Rankin First Economic Development Authority, “It is incumbent on everyone in this room, everyone on this stage, to make sure that the local population is fully informed of reality, not just what they are reading in the media.” 

Haley Fisackerly, president and CEO of Entergy Mississippi, said that it is important to understand what data centers are because they will be the new infrastructure, similar to railroads and the internet.

“I’ll tell you why I’m excited about it, “ Fisackerly said, “It’s not just about the growth and the jobs and investment. How is it going to transform the services we provide our communities and our customers?”

Fisackerly said that before Amazon Web Services decided to build a data center in Madison County, Entergy was concerned about the impact that rising costs, aging infrastructure, severe weather and a lack of sales growth would have on electricity costs for customers. 

Entergy, the state’s largest electricity provider, knew that it needed to build two new power plants by 2030, Fisackerly said, and having Amazon as a customer is now helping to pay for them and will lessen the increased costs for Entergy’s other’s customers. A report commissioned by environmental groups said that data centers have already increased rates for Entergy’s Mississippi residential customers by around $10 a month. Entergy has pushed back against these claims and emphasized that customers are benefiting from, not subsidizing data center costs.

Amazon has continued to expand its presence in Mississippi since the announcement of its first data center in 2024. It plans to invest $25 billion in Mississippi data centers in Clinton, Madison County and Warren County. 

“We have never seen an economic development opportunity like this in our state’s history,” Fisackerly said. 

Beyond the corporate investment, speakers on Wednesday highlighted data centers’ broader economic impact, including taxes directed towards public schools and job creation. Amazon recently tried to challenge Madison County’s property valuation which would reduce the amount it pays in property taxes. However, the county upheld the assessor’s valuation.

“When you think about data centers, it is not just the direct jobs. They are impacting every level of our education system. So, I’m so proud of what this entire region is doing to support the ecosystem for the data center industry,” Wright said.

“The jobs obviously are an important part, but what’s happening with the taxes? What’s happening with the wages? What’s happening with the home prices? What’s happening with the overall investment in the community,” said Andrea Hutchins, a project manager with Amazon Web Services.

The panelists emphasized the importance of partnerships between data centers, local businesses, government officials and the communities they’re building in. They encouraged people to ask questions and get engaged in the process.

“My advice is, it’s OK to say no. If you don’t want a data center, say no. Let your voice be heard,” said Joey Deason, Executive Director of the Madison County Economic Development Authority. But he cautioned against relying on misinformation and encouraged people to go to Amazon’s data centers in Canton to see and hear what they’re like. 

Panelists agreed that data centers are here to stay. Hutchins said that Amazon is projecting demand for at least the next decade, but there are ways data centers can be better partners. Deason said that there have been car wash gift cards given to people living close to the Amazon data centers and regular street cleaning in an effort to be good neighbors.

“I don’t think we can ignore the fact there have been some bad players or some some projects that have been detrimental to some local neighbors in the broader Southeast or even in the U.S. region. But there are a lot of ways to mitigate that,” Wright said, “ I think it’s incumbent on us as our developers to make sure that what we bring to our community is only going to increase the overall value of the region.”

This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Source: Original Article