Data centers in Warren County, Tennessee: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

In McMinnville, a city of 14,000 known for its hundreds of plant nurseries, a locally led proposal for an AI data center set off one of Tennessee's fastest moratoriums. The Hixson Data Center would be a 96,065-square-foot, two-level building on industrial land by a rail spur, with 25 megawatts of IT capacity designed for Nvidia's GB200 NVL72 systems, completed in early 2028. Its website says it would be grid-independent, powered by Bloom Energy fuel cells, diesel generators and a battery. DCD reported the developer, Hixson, was still seeking financing and a single tenant. Development director Alex Hixson, a McMinnville resident, told WKRN he loves the area and wants to "do something good for it."

Residents moved first. An online petition drew nearly 3,000 signatures, citing water supply and energy use. "I think that they're aiming these at these smaller places in Tennessee because our land is so cheap, our laws are so lenient," said resident Kai Sage, who lives near the site. On June 9 the McMinnville Board of Mayor and Aldermen unanimously passed an 18-month moratorium on applications for data centers and high-density computing, going beyond the 12 months organizers had asked for. "A moratorium is not a permanent ban. It is a responsible time-out," City Administrator Nolan Ming said.

Warren County followed. The county commission unanimously passed its own 12-month moratorium on June 23, after its Economic and Agriculture Committee heard from a dozen residents; Chairman Brad Hillis said the pause would give the county time to research the impact of data centers on local infrastructure before deciding on one. Hixson did not respond to questions about the project after the votes.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.