Data center siting snapshot: Shelby County, Tennessee

Line miles are measured from the archived HIFLD Transmission Lines layer inside the Census county boundary. Mapped lines are not available capacity.

What the public record shows

The archived HIFLD map records approximately 98.8 miles of 230 kV-and-above transmission line within Shelby County, Tennessee, consisting of 98.4 miles at 500 kV or more and 0.4 miles at 230 kV ^[1]. The same map shows about 593.3 miles of 115–161 kV line in the county ^[2]. Tennessee Valley Authority, Entergy Arkansas, and Entergy Mississippi are the owners of record with the most mapped 115 kV+ line miles ^[3]. Three named line endpoints touching 230 kV+ lines are mapped inside the county ^[4]. Retail electric utilities whose mapped service territory covers part of the county include the City of Memphis, TN, and the City of West Memphis, AR, with approximate territory boundaries ^[5].

As of 2026-11-09, records hold no county- or city-level data center moratorium or ordinance for Shelby County ^[6]. At the state and utility level, a TVA data center rate and capacity-commitment charge is in force as of 2026-10-01 ^[7]. Tennessee enacted HB1847 / SB2128 on 2026-05-18, requiring data centers at or above 50 MW to pay infrastructure costs and barring ratepayer cost-shifting unless infrastructure also benefits other ratepayers ^[8]. Several other bills, including HB2047 / SB2584, HB2392 / SB2653, HB2463 / SB2681, and HB2456 / SB2112, failed in 2026 ^{[9][10][11][12]}.

Drafted by our local model from the numbered facts below, then checked sentence by sentence by a second model and a rules-based check.

Data center rules on record

Rule records come from The MW Desk legislation tracker, which includes rows from the Moratorium Nation dataset by Michael J. Bommarito (CC BY 4.0). Statuses change; confirm with the jurisdiction's own record.

Utilities on record

City of Memphis (TN), City of West Memphis (AR). (HIFLD/EIA-861 territory polygons; approximate and often overlapping.)

Market context on The MW Desk: Nashville / Middle Tennessee, Memphis / North Mississippi.

Sources

1. [1] The archived HIFLD map shows about 98.8 miles of 230 kV-and-above transmission line inside Shelby County, TN: 98.4 miles at 500 kV or more, 0.0 miles at 345 kV and 0.4 miles at 230 kV. Source: HIFLD Transmission Lines (archived by SeerAI, CC BY 4.0)
2. [2] The same map shows about 593.3 miles of 115–161 kV line in the county. Source: HIFLD Transmission Lines (archived by SeerAI, CC BY 4.0)
3. [3] Owners of record with the most mapped 115 kV+ line miles in the county: Tennessee Valley Authority, Entergy Arkansas, Entergy Mississippi. Source: HIFLD Transmission Lines (archived by SeerAI, CC BY 4.0)
4. [4] 3 named line endpoints touching 230 kV+ lines (usually substations or switchyards) are mapped inside the county. Source: HIFLD Transmission Lines (archived by SeerAI, CC BY 4.0)
5. [5] Retail electric utilities whose mapped service territory covers part of the county include: City of Memphis (TN), City of West Memphis (AR). Territory boundaries are approximate. Source: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (EIA-861 based; archived by SeerAI, CC BY 4.0)
6. [6] Our records hold no county- or city-level data center moratorium or ordinance for Shelby County as of 2026-11-09. Source: The MW Desk legislation tracker
7. [7] Tennessee state/utility level, TVA: Data center rate and capacity-commitment charge. Status: in force, dated 2026-10-01. Source: Nashville Post: TVA votes to increase rate payment for data centers
8. [8] Tennessee state/utility level, Tennessee: HB1847 / SB2128 (Applies to data centers at or above 50 MW. Requires data center owners to pay infrastructure costs needed to support utility service and bars ratepayer cost-shifting unless infrastructure also benefits other ratepayers. Reporting states amended bill also allows self-generation or power purchases from independent producers outside ordinary utility service). Status: enacted, dated 2026-05-18. Source: TN General Assembly Bill Status - HB1847 (114th GA)
9. [9] Tennessee state/utility level, Tennessee: HB2047 / SB2584 (Would require qualified data centers applying for job tax credits to certify no recent WARN Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, or federal immigration-law violations). Status: failed, dated 2026-04-20. Source: TN General Assembly Bill Status - HB2047 (114th GA)
10. [10] Tennessee state/utility level, Tennessee: HB2392 / SB2653 ("Tennessee Data Center Impact Review Act." Would require data centers over 20 MW to obtain water and wastewater operator board permits and report water source, daily/peak/annual water use, cumulative impacts, drought planning, reuse, wastewater, and discharge information). Status: failed, dated 2026-04-07. Source: TN General Assembly Bill Status - HB2392 (114th GA)
11. [11] Tennessee state/utility level, Tennessee: HB2463 / SB2681 ("Bring Your Own Generation Act." Would require a clean energy transition surcharge on data centers at or above 100 MW equal to proportional costs of adding new clean energy resources and transmission upgrades; would require new data centers or AI facilities above 100 MW to source 50 percent of electricity from new carbon-free energy sources). Status: failed, dated 2026-04-07. Source: TN General Assembly Bill Status - HB2463 (114th GA)
12. [12] Tennessee state/utility level, Tennessee: HB2456 / SB2112 (Would require data centers over 20 MW to register with the Department of Revenue and require fuel suppliers, electric utilities, and water utilities to report fuel, electricity, water usage, and rates). Status: failed, dated 2026-03-24. Source: TN General Assembly Bill Status - HB2456 (114th GA)