SpaceX is “committed” to building the wastewater treatment facility for its Memphis supercomputer, according to a Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) leader.
The company is now the parent company of xAI, Elon Musk’s Memphis artificial intelligence company. The company had long promised to build a wastewater recycling facility here to cool its massive data center in southeast Memphis, instead of using the city’s pristine drinking water.
At the beginning of April, however, the company announced that it still planned to build the plant but was “prioritizing … more immediate projects at the site” and would use Memphis Sand Aquifer water for the foreseeable future.
MLGW president and CEO Doug McGowen told Memphis City Council members Tuesday morning that he was “cautiously optimistic” that the water plant plan was still in the works — “trust but verify.” The projected cost, he said, had ballooned from $80 million to around $200 million. But infrastructure for the facility has already been laid, he said.
“I’ve made it clear that Memphis Light, Gas & Water has met 100 percent of the things that we’ve committed to do,” McGowen said. “We’ve done it on time and I will firmly do that. I will meet every commitment that we have to do. And I expect our partners to do the same thing.”
I will meet every commitment that we have to do. And I expect our partners to do the same thing.”
MLGW CEO Doug McGowen
Senior executives at SpaceX have given McGowen “multiple commitments” on the facility. McGowen said he has reached out to the company for a meeting with he and Memphis Mayor Paul Young about the facility. He expected it to happen in the next week or two.
SpaceX is readying to go public, according to tech market watchers. That could snarl the timeline on the wastewater facility, should it move forward at all. McGowen said the original forecast was to open the facility in 2027. But he did not have any signed contract to make the proposal firm.
“I think it’s important for the community to hear that you have actually talked to people and they have given you that commitment,” said council member Dr. Jeff Warren.