NAACP Sues xAI Alleging Unpermitted Gas Turbines Pollute Mississippi Data Center

# NAACP Files Lawsuit Against xAI for Unpermitted Gas Turbines in Mississippi The NAACP filed a lawsuit against xAI on Tuesday alleging the company was running behind-the-meter gas turbines on a data center in Mississippi without a permit and polluting the community around it, Wired reported.

xAI did not immediately reply to a request for comment, according to Wired. Many data center developers are turning to building their own power sources known as behind-the-meter power in response to encouragement from the Trump administration to protect ratepayers.

Energy Information Administration Announces Data Center Energy Surveys The Energy Information Administration plans to develop a mandatory assessment of data centers' energy use.

The EIA announced on a day in late March that it would conduct a pilot survey in three areas of the country that have heavy data center development: Texas, Washington state, and the northern Virginia/DC metro area. The current EIA pilot asks the 196 companies identified across the three regions to choose just one location to report metrics on.

Senators Respond to EIA Pilot Announcement Two senators sent a letter to the EIA a day after the late March announcement, Wired reported.

In an April 9 letter, Abbey stated that the EIA will announce a second tranche of pilot surveys covering at least three more states. Abbey stated that both EIA pilot surveys would be complete by late September.

Details of EIA Survey Data Collection Abbey stated that the two pilot studies are a necessary step in the methodical development of a nationwide mandatory survey.

Information being collected by the EIA from data centers in these pilots includes annual electricity use and information on behind-the-meter power generation. The EIA surveys will include questions on the classification of different types of data centers, cooling systems, facility characteristics like square footage, and IT specifications including metrics on how efficiently a data center uses energy.

Tailored Approach to Pilot Surveys Abbey stated that the pilot surveys will tailor questions to the particular location of each data center facility and will not ask every respondent for the full set of metrics.

The EIA did not answer questions about how it determined which locations should receive which questions or if it provided any requirements to survey respondents about how to choose which data center location to provide information about, Wired reported.

The EIA did not answer questions from Wired about when it plans to launch the second set of pilot surveys, the states that will be included, or the possible timing of a national mandatory survey.

EIA's Broader Role in Energy Data The EIA conducts mandatory surveys of providers of various types of energy generation, including oil and gas production, electric generation, and renewables, as well as their industrial customers.