Memphis Light, Gas and Water, the municipal utility of Memphis. Chapter 4 reads its posted records for the second substation planned for the Memphis cluster, due in the fall of 2025, which no posted minute shows in service. Chapter 4.
From The AI Compute Race. Read the book
Where the book uses it
- Chapter 4 — One Rack
How a datacenter is actually built, from a converted factory in Memphis to a greenfield campus in Texas, and what the clock from first ground to first power really measures.
Sources that use it
- Doug McGowen, President and CEO, Memphis Light, Gas and Water, “Investing in a Stronger Tomorrow: Why MLGW is Proposing Modest Rate Adjustments,” letter to customers, 19 October 2026 (“MLGW is creating a new rate structure for data centers that will increase their water rates by 30%”; the letter “reflects the proposed rates in MLGW’s October 7, 2026, preliminary budget presentation. The increases remain subject to the approval process.”) In the Sources
- Greater Memphis Chamber, “Velocity Meets Potency: xAI Announces Memphis as New Home,” 5 June 2024 (the public announcement — 89 elapsed days before the 2 September online declaration; Doug McGowen, MLGW’s president and chief executive, “proud of our work to provide utilities for such a massive project and to do it quickly”). In the Sources
- Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, Board of Commissioners signed minutes, 19 June 2024 (President McGowen: MLGW had learned of the project “nine days ago”; existing industrial infrastructure could meet initial needs; the company would construct a substation at its own cost with a portion transferred to MLGW). In the Sources
- Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, “MLGW Utility Support to xAI,” slides for the Memphis City Council’s MLGW committee, 9 July 2024 (50 MW by 1 August from the existing substation and a future 150 MW substation, on the slides’ map of the site; “Developer will pay for construction of 150MW substation.”; “MLGW will provide a ‘margin allowance’ on monthly bill to recoup cost of construction of the substation (approximately $24M total).”; “MLGW will increase availability to 50MW at an MLGW capital cost of $760,000”; “Still pending is TVA Board approval of 150MW request”; “Participation in Demand Response program a practical requirement for approval”; the slides do not say over what period the allowance runs; posted on the City of Memphis’s site) In the Sources
- Tennessee Valley Authority, Board of Directors, “Greater than 100 MW firm power arrangement with CTC Property LLC (xAI) — Resolution and Memo,” reading-room document for the board meeting of 7 November 2024 (the resolution approves 150 MW “contingent on the new customer’s agreement to certain demand response terms offered for similar customer loads”; the memorandum: TVA “would only make the requested 150 MW of power available as early as December 1, 2024 if Company agrees to demand response terms offered for similar customer loads”; CTC Property, “a new MLGW customer with a desire for a firm power contract demand of 150 MW for its initial phase of operation”; the memorandum: “In March of this year, xAI inquired about MLGW and TVA’s potential to supply a 150 MW operation at the site”; “By August of this year, xAI was already operating at over 50 MW with a combination of limited MLGW power and xAI gas turbines”) In the Sources
And 13 more: search the Sources.
Related terms
From the glossary of The AI Compute Race.
How to cite this page
Dryburgh, Lee S. “MLGW.” In The AI Compute Race. DRYBURGH. https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/mlgw (accessed 2026-11-01).
BibTeX
@misc{dryburgh-mlgw-2026,
author = {Dryburgh, Lee S.},
title = {{MLGW}},
howpublished = {In \emph{The AI Compute Race}, DRYBURGH},
year = {2026},
url = {https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/mlgw},
note = {Accessed 2026-11-01}
}