FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HUMBOLDT, Tenn. — July 23, 2026 — The City of Humboldt, Humboldt Utilities, the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce and local economic development partners are jointly providing information regarding the new data center currently under construction near the Gibson County Industrial Park.
The project has raised questions, concerns and speculation among residents, particularly regarding electricity and water usage as well as noise and infrastructure costs. This release aims to explain what the facility will house as well as its utility usage, which will not affect residential or commercial customers’ capacity.
The building site sits on approximately two-acres of land in an area near the outskirts of the city limits. This center will operate as a 15-megawatt cryptocurrency mining facility in an area intended for industrial development, just outside of the Gibson County Industrial park. Before construction began, the project underwent the required local and utility reviews.
TVA completed an engineering and feasibility study and approved the additional electric load. The project was also reviewed and approved by the Humboldt Planning Commission.
Electrical Capacity and Emergency Reliability
The data center will be a significant electric customer, but TVA’s review determined that the regional electric system has more than enough capacity to serve the facility while still leaving room for more residential, commercial and industrial growth. Once completed, the electric system will still have a reserve capacity of 40 megawatts, which is equal to Humboldt’s current usage today.
In 1996, Humboldt Utilities served a peak electric demand of approximately 55 megawatts. Humboldt’s current peak demand is approximately 40 megawatts. The new 15-megawatt customer will return customer sales to the level of demand Humboldt Utilities successfully served nearly 30 years ago before the closure of places like Wilson Sporting Goods and Emerson Motor Company. It’s worth noting that this usage was before 30 years of upgrades and improvements to the infrastructure.
The substation from which the center will acquire its power has also been underutilized for many years. It services only one industry, which uses a small fraction of the power allotted or available. Because of the substation’s location and the surrounding geography, it is not feasible to use this substation to serve residential areas or most other commercial development. The facility will operate on its own dedicated electrical infrastructure and will not share a substation with Humboldt Utilities’ existing residential or business customers under normal conditions.
Protecting electric service for residents, existing businesses, schools, medical facilities and other essential community needs remains the top priority.
The data center owner has agreed to enter into an interruptible service contract stating that it will be the first customer to power down if TVA or Humboldt Utilities face an electric supply emergency. During extreme weather, a regional power shortage or another grid emergency, the facility can quickly reduce or suspend its operations so that available electricity remains focused on the needs of the community.
The facility will not be allowed to take priority over Humboldt’s homes, businesses or essential services during an emergency.
Electricity Misconceptions
Power fluctuations, transformer instability or other such issues will not be caused by this new center. There is the misconception that the additional load can cause transformers across town to fail or blow. That’s not something that would happen. Transformers fail for a variety of reasons including animal incursions, shorts that vaporize the oil in the tank causing an explosion, lightning strikes, and insulation breakdown. Power fluctuations are generally not an issue due to the use of tap changers or voltage regulating devices at substations and throughout the distribution system. They prevent sudden spikes or drop in voltage system wide.
Water Use
The facility is expected to use up to approximately 2 million gallons of water annually, primarily during warmer months as part of its evaporative cooling system. In simple terms, the computers use misting fans. That means the water used for cooling will evaporate and will not discharge process wastewater into Humboldt sewer system and will not add treatment demand to the city’s wastewater system. The data center will not use ground wells for cooling water or for discharge. All water used for the evaporative cooling process will be purchased from Humboldt Utilities and monitored to ensure proper use.
For a water usage comparison, Humboldt Utilities’ largest industrial water customer uses approximately 2 million to 3 million gallons of water each day. In addition, three of our other largest industries use between 3 and 28 million gallons a year. A small car wash can use 1 million gallons a year or more.
Humboldt Utilities Authority sells more than 1 billion gallons of water each year . That puts the data center’s anticipated annual use at around 0.2% of Humboldt’s total water sales, or two-tenths of one percent and will leave about 1-1.5 Million gallons per day of water capacity on the current system. Additionally, Humboldt Utilities has plans to construct a second water plant for future growth as the city expands.
Infrastructure Costs
The project owners are paying 100% of the infrastructure costs required specifically to serve the facility. As a matter of fact, they have already spent $180,000 on utility infrastructure improvements. Any additional infrastructure required for the project will also be funded by the owners.
No taxpayer-funded road or other improvements are required for the facility, and the project is not receiving a tax abatement or local economic development incentives. They have asked for no money whatsoever.
The project will not require existing Humboldt Utilities customers or Humboldt taxpayers to pay for any infrastructure needed to operate the center.
Noise and Location
The data center is being constructed in an industrial area adjacent to the Gibson County Industrial Park and separated from established residential neighborhoods. It is near one industry which does produce noise as well as a busy railroad track.
Because noise is a common concern associated with any data center operations, the project owners commissioned an independent acoustical study which concluded that the site is not expected to create a detrimental noise impact on residents or businesses. The company is creating additional sound barriers outside of the facility itself. Concern about the shipping containers currently on site are understood, but that will not be the final look of the barriers.
Financial Impact
The data center is expected to generate approximately $8.5 million in annual electric revenue for Humboldt Utilities.
After the cost of purchasing and delivering the electricity is covered, the project is expected to generate more than $600,000 in annual net revenue for Humboldt Utilities Authority. Most of revenue generated through the project remains within the local utility system and can help:
- Reduce upward pressure on future residential and commercial electric rates.
- Strengthen the financial position of Humboldt Utilities.
- Support future utility maintenance and infrastructure improvements.
- Maintain reliable service throughout the community.
- Assist with costs associated with preventative maintenance such as trimming trees off lines, replacing aging equipment, etc.
The project is also expected to generate annual revenue of $100,000 or more for the City of Humboldt through applicable taxes and other payments. Money that can be used for a host of needs including grant matches, paving, fire and police vehicles and many other items.
While no single project can guarantee that utility rates will not increase in the future, the addition of a large customer whose infrastructure costs are funded by the project can help spread the utility system’s fixed costs across a broader customer base and give additional leeway when rates are raised on the utility itself.
Future Projects
Approval of this project should not be interpreted as blanket approval for additional cryptocurrency mining or data center facilities in Humboldt.
The City of Humboldt, Humboldt Utilities and local economic development organizations evaluate every proposed project individually. All projects and proposals go through a stringent process based on zoning, available utility capacity, infrastructure requirements, noise, environmental considerations, financial impact, employee availability and its overall effect on the community. That process is for industry, large commercial operations, data centers and any other type of business looking to locate in our city. We can say that at this time, local officials are not actively seeking, nor would we likely entertain thoughts of another data center right now. The preference is to leave additional capacity for housing, incoming businesses, the new hotel and potential industries.
Commitment to Accurate Information
We recognize that cryptocurrency mining and data centers are both unfamiliar to many people and that similar facilities in other communities have generated legitimate concerns. Questions regarding electric demand, noise, water use and transparency should not be dismissed.
At the same time, decisions regarding this Humboldt project should be based on the specific facts, studies, agreements and conditions associated with this specific facility. It’s also worth noting that other similar-sized and larger facilities (all under 75MW) are located all around rural West Tennessee with no problems so far.
This current project has received the approvals required to proceed. Its owners are paying the infrastructure costs needed to serve it, it will use a small percentage of Humboldt’s available water, it has agreed to power down first during an electric emergency, and it is expected to provide significant recurring revenue to Humboldt Utilities Authority and taxes to the City of Humboldt.
The City of Humboldt, Humboldt Utilities, the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce and local economic development partners will continue working together to provide accurate information and protect the long-term interests of the Humboldt community.
