Memphis residents gathered at Southwest Tennessee Community College on Saturday to engage with MLGW President Doug McGowen about the xAI supercomputer's expected demands on local utilities. Among the attendees was Scott Banbury, Sierra Club's Conservation Director, who voiced a prevalent concern regarding the additional 150 megawatts of power required for the supercomputer, particularly if it meant relying on fossil fuel infrastructure. "Well of course power demands are my main concern, it is something like 150 megawatts and it is a serious concern if it is going to be met with fossil fuel infrastructure," Banbury told Action News 5.
Meanwhile, Kathy Niter, a resident of Memphis, expressed unease about the city's freshwater supply due to xAI's presence. Niter insisted, according to Local Memphis, that a recycling plant funded by the tech company should be operational before the supercomputer commences its operations. "They should not go online until they have their recycle plant function. If we are depending on somebody else to build a recycling plant to use water, then that means we are waiting on them to build it while they are using our fresh water," Niter said.
Despite concerns from the public, McGowen assured there should be no distress about the quantity of water or the reliability of electric power the xAI facility will consume. He addressed the concern over the potential temporary nature of xAI's stay in Memphis. In a community forum, McGowen stated, "We hope that all companies are successful and create a lot of jobs in Memphis, but in the event that they happen to leave, there should be no harm to our electric, our gas infrastructure and water infrastructure, and we've made sure of that," as stated by Local Memphis.
