Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, sent a letter to SpaceXAI CEO Elon Musk demanding answers regarding the company’s Colossus 1 and Colossus 2 data centers. The sites, operating near the Tennessee-Mississippi border, are accused of harming local communities.
In his letter, Pallone stated: “Communities across the nation are frustrated and angry about the pace of giant data centers being constructed in their back yards.” He added that Americans are concerned about how data centers and Big Tech’s push for more AI impact their communities, jobs, property values, and future. “Electricity prices are skyrocketing, the electric grid is strained, our clean air and water are being polluted, and noise is wearing on communities’ health and patience,” he wrote.
Pallone further noted: “What has also become apparent from my examination of data centers is your company’s disregard for the health and well-being of local communities.” He emphasized that “your rapid rollout of gas-powered turbines into vulnerable communities without adequate oversight or regulation creates a massive health risk to those communities. And any potential savings to the community’s electricity costs resulting from trucking in off-grid gas turbines comes at great cost to their health. This is an unacceptable trade-off.”
The letter follows growing scrutiny of AI data centers’ energy demands and environmental impacts as technology companies expand computing capacity. Recent communications between regulators and company representatives indicate Musk’s AI company xAI installed 59 natural gas turbines for its Colossus 2 project without securing federal clean-air permits. The turbines were located near predominantly Black communities, with potential emissions exceeding thresholds that typically require federal permits.
A press release from the Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats stated: “SpaceXAI’s Colossus 1 data center is powered by 35 gas-powered turbines, making it the third-largest source of ozone-causing pollution in Shelby County, Tennessee—ahead of a nearby refinery and power plant—all without any air permits or protections, in violation of the Clean Air Act.” The release added: “Just five miles away, on the other side of the border in Mississippi, SpaceXAI has trucked in at least 60 gas-powered turbines for its Colossus 2 data center—operating without air permits or safeguards. According to one analysis, this makes the Colossus 2 turbines the largest source of pollution in the Memphis area—five times as polluting as the next largest source, the Memphis airport—and the largest emitter of nitrogen oxide in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas.”
The press release also noted that SpaceXAI was “the least willing to answer questions” during a recent meeting with Committee staff. Pallone detailed that Colossus 2 turbines annually emit approximately 5,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, over 7,000 tons of carbon monoxide, nearly 200 tons of sulfur dioxide, hundreds of tons of volatile organic compounds, hundreds of tons of particulate matter, and over 40 tons of formaldehyde—a toxic substance even in small amounts.
“This represents an astounding increase in emissions in the Memphis area making it a major source of criteria and hazardous air pollutants,” Pallone wrote. He highlighted health risks from these emissions, including aggravated asthma, respiratory infections, and cardiovascular disease. The letter also referenced New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s recent legislation requiring data center operators to pay a fair share for electricity.
Pallone noted that the Trump Administration has filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit by environmental advocates and the NAACP in Mississippi to halt xAI’s use of allegedly illegal, air-polluting turbines. He stated: “The Trump Administration has essentially claimed that it alone decides whether SpaceXAI and other companies get a free pass to pollute unimpeded. But just because the Trump Administration will bend over backward to give tech companies free rein over community air, water, and land does not make your actions legal.”
He further clarified that SpaceXAI’s position—that gas turbines on trailers constitute “mobile sources” eligible for up to one year of operation without permits under the Clean Air Act—is “clearly wrong.” Pallone requested detailed responses from SpaceXAI by August 11, 2026, including information about operations at both data centers.