AI prosperity requires power, and it needs to be supplied immediately. To avoid waiting years in utility interconnection queues, data center operators have taken shortcuts: building their own natural gas power plants, typically obtaining minimal permits and minimal public participation.

According to Cleanview data, at least 57 off-grid natural gas power plants have been proposed or constructed specifically to power data centers across the United States. Their total capacity is approximately 73 gigawatts, sufficient to power tens of millions of households.

No project better illustrates this contradiction than xAI's Colossus facility in Mississippi. The company's Colossus 1 site began operations in June 2024, using up to 35 gas turbines that were unlicensed at the time. Some permits were only obtained afterward, under legal pressure.

The sequel is larger in scale. Colossus 2, located in South Haven, Mississippi, is equipped with 27 gas turbines and capable of generating up to 495 megawatts of power. The facility was installed without initial permits.

Potential emissions from the Colossus 2 site alone paint a grim picture: more than 1,700 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx), 180 tons of fine particulates (PM2.5), 500 tons of carbon monoxide, and 19 tons of formaldehyde annually.

In April 2026, the Southern Environmental Law Center, Earthjustice, and the NAACP filed suit seeking a complete shutdown of xAI's Mississippi operations. The legal argument focused on the facility's operation without appropriate air quality permits and the resulting health risks to surrounding communities.

Mississippi is not an exception. Similar projects are emerging across the nation. Texas has the GW Ranch project. Virginia has the Vantage project. Collectively, at least 11 data center-related gas projects could generate more than 129 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

Unlike traditional emergency diesel generators, these facilities operate continuously, raising significant environmental concerns, particularly in communities already facing air quality challenges. Communities near these facilities often learn of their existence only after construction has already begun.