Advocates: Even in Mississippi, data center opposition spans political spectrum. But are politicians listening? ...Middle East

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Opposition to data centers is at an all-time-high across the country. We are no outlier here in Mississippi. The opposition to data centers spans across the political spectrum. “Data centers are a unique issue where ‘MAGA Republicans and liberal Democrats’ land in the same place,” NPR recently reported, quoting the co-director of a group that tracks political advertising.

Yet in Mississippi, the battle around data centers looks like a game of two-on-two. On one side is team “people and communities,” versus team “data centers” made up of corporations and politicians across the political spectrum. 

Even though communities across the state are resoundingly rejecting data centers, very few officials are responsive to the concerns of these communities. Who even asked for these data centers, anyway? What regular citizen wants these data centers in their backyards? Rather, it’s the politicians and corporations telling us from on high that we should want these data centers and they will be good economic opportunities. The divergence between the people and the state is stark. 

State and local officials in Madison County, along with the corporations behind them, claimed in late August that data centers will help fund public schools. You know what could have funded public schools? It’s this thing that most civilized societies use to fund public education, along with infrastructure projects and hospitals, called taxes. But, we cut the income tax last year with even some Democrats voting for the cut. 

At this moment, we need state lawmakers who will actually listen to the community, not the corporate interests that lobby them. Early on, lawmakers had very limited information about the harms of data centers and were swayed by big corporations to sign legislation in support of data centers.

Sen. Hillman Frazier was one of those lawmakers. Sen. Frazier penned an August op-ed calling for data center regulations, maybe trying to right the wrong of having sponsored the “Data Center Giveaway” bill, Senate Bill 2001 from 2024. 

In his op-ed Sen. Frazier says that Mississippi should create laws that protect our communities, and he advocates for statewide policies and regulations around data centers. He says it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition between “economic growth and protecting our communities,” but says there needs to be more rules and regulations “before Mississippi sees another wave of data center development.” 

Well, the future is here. We are presently experiencing a wave of data center development that needs to be halted before further irreparable harm occurs to our environment, people and communities. People are already feeling the effects of data centers in their communities, including health issues.

We need regulation, public transparency and corporate accountability; and we need more legislators speaking up and revoking their sponsorship. To do anything else feels a bit tone-deaf. We know too much now of the economic and physical harms data centers cause. These harms far outweigh any imaginary benefit. 

S.B. 2001 (2024), codified at Miss. Code Ann. § 77-3-271, made it easier for Amazon and Entergy Mississippi to build their Madison County data centers. The bill provides heavy tax incentives to the companies and helps Entergy to create the infrastructure – power plants and grid – to power Amazon’s data centers. The bill made the projects exempt from the Public Service Commission’s review, and shielded the deals from the Mississippi Public Records Act designating the deals “trade secrets.” Thus, members of the public have no way to know the terms or rates Entergy charges.

We should be concerned because S.B. 2001 also “makes it easier for Entergy to build new power infrastructure serving Amazon’s data centers and recover expenses from customers,” the Mississippi Free Press reported. Money used to construct the data center infrastructure is deemed “used and useful,” which means Entergy can pass the costs onto residents.

Entergy can, and very likely does, pass costs along to its customers by increasing residential rates. There are serious “fears that Entergy could be undercharging Amazon while raising rates for other customers,” the Mississippi Free Press reported.          

A report commissioned by Environmental Advocates MS and EarthJustice estimates that: “Entergy’s residential ratepayers in Mississippi have already paid approximately $38 million as of March 2026 for investments related to serving data centers, and that they will contribute $74 million by the end of 2026. As a result, the average residential customer’s bill is now about $10.60 per month higher,” according to the report.

Now, these are just estimates because S.B. 2001 shields all the deal’s terms and rates from the public. But under S.B. 2001, Entergy can raise rates higher than the annual 4% rate increase cap under existing state law. This “allows the company to raise rates in excess of that to fund the construction of energy plants that power data centers.” Mississippi residents rightfully are skeptical of the corporations’ claims because the people clearly see their bills increasing. Corporate gaslighting is nothing new. These corporations will tell us the sky is green when we can clearly see it is blue.

While Sen. Frazier likely meant well with his op-ed, we still must ask who is responsible for S.B. 2001? Republican Sen. Josh Harkins was the lead author of S.B. 2001 and the senators who signed on as “authors” or “sponsors” represent a multigenerational, multiracial and cross-party coalition of politicians. All but one state senator, and all but two House members voted for the bill. Republican Rep. Dan Eubanks, Democratic Rep. Solomon Osborne and Republican Sen. Kathy Chism were the only legislators who voted no.

This, unfortunately, is an example of the Mississippi Legislature coming together seamlessly to enact public policy that the public never asked for and now communities across the state must fight retroactively against.

S.B. 2001 has been discussed and criticized by community members across the state. Groups such as Environmental Advocates Mississippi, Mississippi for a Just World and Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition are actively organizing communities to fight against data centers. Legislation like this further entrenches us in a world where corporations lack oversight and accountability, while members of the public, particularly our most marginalized and economically vulnerable communities, will continue to be left holding the bag while corporations profit. 

It’s a cruel reality that Mississippi politicians willingly allow corporations to pollute communities, then turn around and tell us that is the best way to fund public schools. Yet we know the corporations are trying to get out of paying their fair share. Our budget reflects our values. We could simply choose to fund public education without polluting and poisoning the kids first.

The politicians don’t speak for us, and we see this every day. This summer, we attended multiple People Over Politics sessions about data centers and community members discussed planned data centers across Mississippi, particularly in the Jackson metro area. Overwhelmingly, community members are against data centers and worry about the impact on their health and wellbeing.

This summer, we saw true people power with residents showing up to Jackson City Council meetings and demanding limits on data centers emerging in Jackson. Then we saw the Jackson City Council pass the first data center moratorium in the state, and now the people are pushing for a permanent ordinance to prevent data centers in our backyard. 

Nationally, data center opposition is at its highest politically. So why do Mississippi politicians continue to choose corporations at the expense of our health and wellbeing? The consequences to the public are here and felt, from the financial harms with higher bills to the very real and known environmental harms that data centers cause, such as the deprivation of natural resources like water needed to cool the data centers.

In fact, the Sierra Club just gave Entergy Mississippi a failing grade on “clean energy,” because it is adding 3500 megawatts of gas-powered energy to meet the needs of Amazon’s data centers in central Mississippi. There is an ever-present risk of pollution, including noise pollution, from data centers that can and will cause long-term health issues. For instance, the Madison County data centers use hundreds of diesel generators that “emit toxic pollutants linked to a range of chronic illnesses, from nitrogen oxides and particulate matter to cancer-causing chemicals like benzene,” the Mississippi Free Press reported. And yet politicians will say we “just have to take the good with the bad,” of data centers. Well, “the bad” may very well be cancer. 

The corporations behind the data centers will continue to claim that the benefits outweigh the negatives, that jobs and economic growth outweigh the human and environmental harms. Yet, the number of jobs being promised are minimal (Amazon claims its data centers will create 2,000 jobs, statewide).

The recently announced Jefferson County data center is only expected to create 200 permanent jobs. Construction jobs will be created as data centers are built. However, those jobs by definition are temporary and often given to out-of-state contractors. Plus, with the tax incentives given to these corporations, we will never receive a true fair share back. 

At the end of the day, AI is meant to replace humans. People use ChatGPT so they don’t have to write that email or do their own research. Why would we trust corporations behind AI data centers claiming to create long term jobs? Are we naïve enough to believe in 30 years people will be retiring from and living comfortably off pensions from data center jobs? We don’t even have a state minimum wage in Mississippi, and the conditions for workers across this state is abysmal. Corporations come to this state because our lawmakers don’t make them pay their fair share. They take advantage of workers and maximize their profits. 

In recent months, in community meetings across Mississippi, residents have asked their legislators about S.B. 2001, and we’ve heard multiple reports of legislators admitting they didn’t even know what was in the bill but voted yes. It’s a grim political reality when state lawmakers don’t carefully review legislation before signing onto or voting for it.

Mississippians deserve so much more. The Legislature can do so much more. They can shield consumers from rate hikes, make data center operators and utility corporations like Entergy pay their fair share, require environmental and community impact studies of the data centers before they are built, require proper permitting and Public Service Commission review, and increase – not decrease – public transparency while creating processes for public review of these deals being struck.

Members of the Mississippi Legislature, especially those authors of S.B. 2001 (2024), must right their wrong. Legislation prioritizing corporations over the people is always wrong. An August tweet can sum up the impact of S.B. 2001:

Brooke Floyd is a daughter of Mississippi. She has a master’s in education from Jackson State University, a master’s from Belhaven University and an undergraduate degree in English from Tougaloo College. She is the director of programs and community-led governance at People’s Advocacy Institute. Brooke continues to call Jackson home, with her husband and two children. 

Korbin Felder is a civil rights attorney who lives and works in Jackson.

Hence then, the article about advocates even in mississippi data center opposition spans political spectrum but are politicians listening was published today ( Tuesday 13/10/2026 - 07:02 PM ) and is available on Mississippi Today ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.

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